Edwin E. Devine

Ed was born in Quincy, Massachusetts in June 1929 to Francis and Lillian (Bearse Gould) Devine. When he was young, his family moved to Yarmouth, MA where he grew up, graduating from Dennis-Yarmouth High School in 1947. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts in 1951 with a bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture. To help pay for college, he worked for the Hood Milk Company on Cape Cod. It was at UMass that Ed met the love of his life, Barbara France, a fellow member of the Class of ’51. They married in May of 1952 and enjoyed 57 years of happiness before her death in 2009. In 1951-53, during the Korean War, he served as an armor officer in the US Army. Upon returning from overseas, he worked for the Boston Re-Development Authority (BRA) in the 1950s/60s, doing many projects in the Charlestown section of the city. After leaving the BRA in the late 1960s, Ed tried his hand as a home builder before settling on a career as a local South Shore architect. He provided plans for hundreds of new homes, additions to existing homes, and landscapes, all done in his meticulously accurate and distinctive style. Ed was a long-time member of the First Trinitarian Congregational Church of Scituate, serving and helping in many different roles. He loved being outdoors, kayaking on the North River, taking trips to visit historic sites. Ed combined creativity with Yankee frugality to provide unique solutions to design problems. He was also a devoted fan of all four of Boston’s professional sports teams.

Loved and admired by all who knew him, Ed will be remembered as a true gentleman - kind, generous, gentle, loving, thoughtful, humorous, a creative soul who will be dearly missed.

Ed was predeceased by his wife Barbara, his father and mother, his brothers Richard Gould and William Devine and their respective wives Helen “Tibby” Gould and Marguerite Devine, and his brother-in-law Edwin “Jazz” Jasinski. He is survived by his daughters Maureen and Patricia Devine, son Michael Devine and daughter-in-law Shirley, granddaughter Megan Purkey and her husband Daniel, granddaughter Caryn Devine, great-granddaughter Virginia “Ginny” Purkey, his sister-in-law Joan Jasinski, and numerous nieces and nephews.

A service to celebrate Ed’s life will be held on Saturday, 16 June 2012, at 11:30 AM, at the First Trinitarian Congregational Church, 381 Country Way, Scituate, MA. A private interment will be held at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Scituate. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in memory of Ed Devine to the Salvation Army. (https://donate.salvationarmyusa.org/page.aspx?pid=207#tribute)