Plan for the Future
Deirdre “Dee” Devlin, nee Aileen Deirdre Quinn, passed away peacefully in her home on November 18, 2013, on her 84th birthday.
Born in New York City in 1929, Dee grew up in Newry, Ireland, and achieved a BS in Pharmacy at Queens University. She worked as a pharmacist in England and Ireland before moving to the States, where she worked at the Rockefeller Institute in research. In 1957, she was married at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City to John Devlin, of Bray, Ireland.
She was well known in the local community for her love of bridge. While raising four children, Devlin became more and more enamored with bridge eventually opening her own game, known as the Summit Bridge Club, in the mid-1980s, a business which she ran successfully for more than two decades. While the game started in Summit, it eventually moved to the Short Hills Congregational Church where it became one of the most successful games in the area. In the 1960s, she achieved the high-level bridge status of Life Master. In the early 90s, she finished 12th in mixed national pairs in a tournament in Philadelphia.
But it was not all about bridge, Devlin was also an active athlete. At University, she played camogie (Irish version of field hockey) and was an avid cyclist and walker. In the early 2000s, she regularly cycled along the waterfront in New York City and back and forth to Newry along the country roads—a 15-mile trek. In 1991, she learned to ski with her five-year-old grandson Declan. She continued to downhill ski as well as cross-country. When she was 78, she tried snowshoeing at Stratton, Vermont. Beyond bridge and sports, Dee loved spending time with her grandchildren, especially back in her beloved homeland where she spent her summers.
She is survived by her husband John, her daughters Iseult and Ann, her son Conor and five grandchildren—Declan, Rory, Maeve, Ronan and Liam. She also had a son Rory who was a big part of her life until his untimely death on November 28, 1987. She was also predeceased by a granddaughter Maura who passed away on December 23, 1987.
A visitation will be 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 20, 2013 at Wm. A. Bradley and Son Funeral Home, 345 Main Street, Chatham, NJ 07928. A Mass of Christian Burial will be 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, November 20, 2013 at St. Vincent Martyr Church, 26 Green Village Road, Madison, NJ 07940. A private cremation will follow. For further information, or to send the family a condolence, please visit, www.www.bradleyfuneralhomes.com.