Francesca Devine

Francesca Devine of Deerfield Beach passed away from COVID-19 at the age of 95 at Manor Care in Venice, Florida. She suffered with dementia for the last few years of her life. She was born in Toledo Ohio, the youngest of 4 sisters, to Polish immigrants. Pretty Francesca grew up poor during the depression. As a young woman she dreamed of dancing and playing the violin. She loved music and often entertained her grandchildren with her yodeling.  She was beautiful and always maintained admiration for things and people of beauty. She devoutly attended Catholic Mass.

Reserved in her expressions of love, but always there when called on, she was heavily influenced by the struggle and suffering she witnessed in her Polish family where she grew up in poverty and was determined to do all she could to avoid similar struggles for her own children. She embraced her role and duty as mother and wife in a traditional household. Nana lived a good life – a life her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will surely reward.

She met her future husband, Jim, on a blind date. James was 20 years old and supposed to meet her older sister but was immediately smitten with lovely 17-year-old Francesca (also known as Fran and endearingly “Nana”). He was in love at first sight. Francesca’s mother was determined to prevent her young daughter’s early marriage by sending her away to cousins in New York, but this did not prevent James from tracking her down and ultimately taking her as his bride in 1942 before he went off to war.

Together they would raise 9 children, some in Toledo, Ohio, and some in their home in Ft. Lauderdale, where she saw her purpose as supporting her family and her husband so he could focus on his business unencumbered by domestic duties while she managed the home. She pleasantly accepted her fate and cooked, washed, toiled, and worried about each of her children trying her best to maneuver them through a world of uncertainty. First up in the morning, and last to bed at night, she labored tirelessly with the daily chores of motherhood, all the while attending to the needs of her beloved husband.

She embraced the notion of sacrificing her own needs and dreams in her efforts to guide her family to find happiness. She somehow managed to make each of her 9 children special and amazingly managed to have all her children neat, tidy, and dressed well every Sunday morning for church, since, as she said, she did not want the neighbors to assume that she couldn’t care for “all those kids.”  Nana saw one of her main roles as chief worrier. The bigger the family there’s more prayer and worry. She wanted her children to be happy, to find love, to have the joy of their own family, and to have faith – a deep Catholic faith she shared with her husband. Nana was always present. She seemed to have a nervous energy, perhaps worrying that there was something else that needed to be done. She reveled in the company of her children and grandchildren, but enjoyed the rare times, when she found time to rest and think.

She was reserved, slow to anger, and rarely, if ever, raised her voice, and had the patience of Job. She kept her emotions to herself but shared her displeasure in a very subtle way leaving no doubt about her feelings. She was, by necessity, self-disciplined and rarely self-indulgent.  However, she did develop an elaborate scheme of accumulating Ethan Allen furniture without her husband’s knowledge and took great personal satisfaction from it. She saw her hairdresser John weekly and was true to her decided hair style and color. She loved her pet cockatiel who she affectionately named after her favorite song “Alfie.”

Always a woman of great dignity who was rarely seen without her make-up in the morning, she had her own style and refinement.  She wore jeans and Gloria Vanderbilt blouses- always the same and only on rare occasions such as weddings wore a dress. She tried to maintain a sense of self and took pleasure in simple things like changing her husband’s name from Jim to James. She enjoyed neutral colors such as browns and beiges, but never loud tones or colors. She made her own fun in a reserved and more private way. We all joked that her favorite holiday was April Fool’s Day when anyone was fair game and could be subject of a well-orchestrated prank. She was comfortable when things were planned and orderly.

As was common in her generation, early in her marriage she told her husband she would have and raise his children, but he would have to make sure the kids had shoes and all the necessities.  Until the end of her life, she was never an empty nester because of family living nearby and many moving back in and out over the years as well as babysitting grandchildren.  She was never an accomplished cook, but she devotedly cooked the meals and made the lunches for her children and family. She made simple meals that would satisfy all and vegetables were rotated canned: peas, corn, or carrots; PB&J on white bread and a bag of Fritos were lunch bag staples for the Devine’s.

In their later years Nana and Poppi enjoyed an occasional movie, went out to dinner or breakfast, and even traveled to Ireland after 45 years of marriage. Later in their lives her husband would struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.  She cared for him single- handedly for many years. He passed away in 2005 from complications due to Alzheimer’s, and she later developed dementia and was eventually forced to leave her home and enter the memory care unit in Tuscan Gardens, in Venice. After a fall and a broken hip, she needed greater care and skilled nursing at Manor Care in Venice. Her dementia continued to worsen until she eventually contracted COVID-19 and died. She had grace and dignity and never one to utter a curse word, but this was taken away from her in her final years. Stoic and steady, always motivated by her sense of duty and the need to do the right thing, she loved her family, faith, and husband. She never passed the buck and rarely, if ever, complained about her lot in life. She was adored by her family and sweet until the end, often singing to the staff at Manor Care.

She was preceded in death by husband, James J. Devine, son James C. Devine, daughter Diane McManus, and grandsons Dean and Todd   Austin.   She is survived by 7 children, 21 grandchildren, 26 great grandchildren, and 5 great great grandchildren.

There will be a funeral mass for her on December 30, 2020 at 11:00 am at Epiphany Cathedral in Venice, Florida. She will be interred at the Sarasota National Cemetery along with her husband.

In lieu of flowers, you can donate, in her name to Alzheimer’s association or Hospice. A Catholic Mass in her name would be most welcomed.