Jean Patterson Devine

Jean Patterson Devine, 93, of Naples, FL, passed peacefully in her sleep Sept. 20, 2022. She was an independent soul who said she lived five full and interesting lives.

Jean, born in Lynchburg, VA, was the only daughter of Eleanor Thurston and Robert H. Patterson.  After her parents divorced, her mother remarried H.T. Johnson. Jean graduated from Lynchburg High School in 1946. Before Jean attended Farmville State Teacher’s College (Longwood) she met Bill Macleod, Jr., a handsome paratrooper at Oakwood Country Club where soldiers were welcomed home after the war. Jean and Bill married in 1948 and her second life produced two children, Laura and Douglas. Divorce came after ten years. As a single mother, Jean often worked six days a week as receptionist /medical assistant for John W. Devine Jr. She took art courses at the FAC and Real Estate training at Phillips College. 

She loved to dance, paint and socialize when she could.  She began her fourth life when she married John Devine in 1969. John, at age 60, became a plastic surgeon and the couple moved to Miami, FL where they lived 27 years. Surviving Hurricane Andrew was among major events in their lives.

In 1992 Jean joined the Biscayne Chapter of the D.A.R. based on her North Carolina ancestry with the McCauley family line. Jean and John traveled widely attending plastic surgeon conventions and met  many interesting and well known people. When Dr. Devine retired at age 82,  he and Jean moved to Naples, Fl.
When John died in 1998 Jean continued living in Naples and became a patron for the Arts for the local Naples Theater Guild, Naples Art Association and was a contributor to the Academy of Fine Arts in Lynchburg, VA.  She was a member of The National Museum of Women in the Arts, United Art Council and was an honorary associate member of the Ralph Millard Medical Society. She traveled to London on the QE2, Paris, Canada and made excursions with members of the Naples Art Association.

Jean was fun loving and good natured but could be feisty and didn’t take no stuff when anyone tried to infringe on her rights or her living space.  She enjoyed drawing, painting and was an avid reader of biography. She loved learning about other people’s lives and making connections. She enjoyed writing letters to her friends and son. It was her form of communication now being lost to time. She was generous to her children’s friends, to her children and the organizations they supported.  She always had something to keep her interested and active during her life.

Jean Devine is survived by her daughter, Laura and Jerry De Gennaro of Naples, FL; her son, Douglas MacLeod of Lynchburg, VA and grandson, Scott De Gennaro of Salem, MA; step-children; Foy Devine of Naples, FL,  Wescott Trinidad of Miami, FL, John W. Devine III and J.W.Devine IV of Florida.

Those who wish to honor her memory may contribute to the Naples Theater Guild or the D.A.R.

For online condolences, to share memories or light a candle, please visit Jean's Tribute at www.fullernaples.com