James A. Devine, 86, of Dennis, died peacefully on Friday, March 29, 2024, at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis after a long struggle with Parkinson’s Disease. He was the beloved husband of Priscilla C. (Marsch) Devine who predeceased him in 2021.
Born in Taunton on February 15, 1938, to the late Edwin F. and Lillian L. (Bouchard) Devine, Jim graduated from Taunton High School in 1956. He lived in western Massachusetts and Dayton, OH during his early adulthood, before moving to Norton, where he and the family lived for many years. He and Priscilla retired to Dennis in 1996.
Jim began his career working for the Department of Defense in 1957 serving in the U.S. Air Force for 12 years, including an assignment with NASA at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, OH on a team that worked for space luminaries Neil Armstrong and Wernher von Braun. He continued similar employment for the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine (USARIEM) at the Natick Soldier System Center (previously, Natick Labs) as a civilian until 1996.
Retirement in Dennis was a joyous time of daily rounds of golf and regular participation in the Newcomers Club, Our Lady of the Cape choir, and many social groups and gatherings shared with Priscilla before becoming her full-time caregiver, a role he accepted with humility and without complaint.
Jim is survived by three children, Deborah Devine of Belmont, Craig Devine and wife Rita of Pearland, TX, and Lisa Irving and husband Bob of Plainville; and his five grandchildren, Matthew, Elizabeth and Autumn Devine and her daughter Oaklee, and Zachary and Julia Irving. He is also survived by three sisters, Beatrice Sponcey of Thompson, CT, Barbara McGarry and her husband Frank of Thompson, and Janice Lopes of Dayville, CT, brother Edwin Devine, Jr. and his wife Susann of Morgantown WV, and many nieces and nephews.
Relatives and friends are invited to attend his memorial service at Dennis Union Church,713 Main Street in Dennis (www.duchurch.org) on Saturday, April 27 at 11am. Burial will follow at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Dennis.
In lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy may be made in Jim’s memory to the Parkinson’s Foundation, 200 SE 1st St., Suite 800, Miami, FL 33131 (www.parkinson.org).
Funeral arrangements are under the care of the Ginley Funeral Home of Franklin (www.ginleyfuneralhomes.com).