John Lawrence Devereaux

November 1, 1919 - June 10, 2016

John Lawrence Devereaux (LtC USAF Ret) November 1, 1919 to June 10, 2016 John “Johnnie” Devereaux passed away on June 10 at the age of 96 in Corvallis, Oregon. He had a wonderful life, he was a great father and a mentor to the many young people he hired throughout the years. Johnnie was born in Cle Elum, Washington, graduating from Cle Elum High School in 1937. He attended Central Washington State College in Ellensburg then ventured to Alaska where he worked in the Juneau gold mines. He joined the CCCs working on several projects including the road to Valdez and the Whittier tunnel. He returned to Cle Elum when he was called to service joining the Army Air Corps. Dad went Air Force when the service was divided seeing time in WWII, the Korean Conflict and Vietnam. He worked on bomber plane maintenance in Korea and was with the US Forest Service in Oakridge when his reserve unit was called to Chanute AFB, Illinois, to replace active duty soldiers sent to Vietnam. He met the love of his life Panagiota (Pennie) when a fellow soldier, his future brother-in-law, took him home for a Greek-Italian dinner. At the time, Pennie was only 15. In 1944, they eloped to North Carolina and were married for 66 years until her death in 2010. His son Tommy was born in Chicago in 1946; he died three days later. His daughter, Pam was born in Ellensburg, Washington and Renee in Wenatchee, Washington. Dad started working for the US Forest Service when he was 15 on Cle Elum Ranger District trail crews. After the service, Johnnie returned to the Forest Service working in Oregon and Washington until retirement in 1977. His entire career was spent in fire management. He worked on the Wenatchee National Forest at Cle Elum, Lake Wenatchee, Leavenworth and Steliko (Entiat). In Oregon, he worked on the Willamette National Forest in Oakridge, Mill City and the Supervisor’s Office in Eugene. On the Siuslaw, he was the Fire Management Officer in the Supervisor’s Office. During his career with the FS, he also refereed basketball in both Oregon and Washington. He tells when he started refereeing, he was paid $5.00 for the night – refereeing the girl’s, JV and the varsity games. In both states he was selected several times to referee at the state championships. Additionally, Johnnie remained in the Air Force Reserves retiring when the Eugene unit was disbanded. His daughters remember him sitting in the basement of their Oakridge home studying as he worked his way through the ranks. They also remember his deployment to Chanute – it seems like he was gone a long time. Upon retirement Johnnie worked for a landscape company taking care of lawns around Corvallis and Albany. He and mom were avid golfers. They were members of St. Mary’s in both Corvallis and Albany. They remained in Albany, wintering in Arizona for 17 years before moving permanently to Surprise, AZ, when their last grandchild graduated from high school in 1998. He was preceded in death by his parents, Thomas and Katherine (Tomac) Devereaux; his sister Rose Lindh; his son Thomas Devereaux and his wife Panagiota “Pennie” Devereaux. He is survived by his daughter Renee (Neil) Hollenbeck of Surprise, AZ; his daughter Pamela (John) Wilson of Corvallis, OR; his grandson Jesse (Katie) Wilson of Portland, OR and his granddaughter Sarah Anderson of Corvallis, OR and three great-grandchildren Bobby, Jack and Audrey. Interment will be at the National Cemetery in Phoenix, Arizona, where mom is waiting for him. Family and friends are invited to a Celebration of Life, 2:30 pm, Saturday, August 20, 2016 at Regency Park Place, 2595 Jack London, Corvallis. Please share your thoughts and memories for the family at demossdurdan.com. If you want to remember him, please consider donating to St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, 303 West Second Street, Cle Elum, WA 98922.