James DeVico Sr.

James DeVico, Sr. passed away Sept. 14, 2011, in Phoenix, Ariz. James was born Feb. 13, 1940, in Brooklyn, N.Y., to Caesar and Adelina DeVico.

James is survived by his devoted wife of 49 years, JoAnn DeVico, their loving children, James DeVico, Jr., Jeffrey DeVico, and Jennifer Baldwin, and their spouses, Sara Cron, Keary DeVico, and Russell Baldwin. James had eight grandchildren, Nicholas and Alexandra Cron-DeVico; Morgan, Noah, and Grace DeVico; Cody, Casey, and Celeste Baldwin. James is also survived by four brothers, Joseph, Anthony, Ralph, and Dennis.

He was preceded in death by his two younger sisters, Linda Phillips and Elena Holland. James was the second oldest of seven children and from the stories he told, he was a hard working but mischievous little boy. At a young age he helped earn money for his family working at a fruit stand, and when he was a teenager he moved to Long Island and helped fix up the new family home. James met his beautiful wife JoAnn when he was 16 years old and they married on April 28, 1962. He was very proud of his family and the life he built with JoAnn.

They moved to Thousand Oaks in 1975, and later to Buckeye, Ariz., in 2005. James enjoyed fixing things and making improvements around the house. He also enjoyed music and movies, the former he would blast on Saturday mornings to get his children out of bed, the latter he would watch mid-afternoon after a morning of hard work on the "Honey-Do" list.

James loved to play cards and games with family and friends. James will be missed dearly by all who knew him including numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews. Viewing will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22, at Pierce Brothers Mortuary, 5600 Lindero Canyon Road, Westlake Village. Services will be held 10:30 to 11:45 a.m. Friday, Sept. 23, at St. Paschal Baylon Catholic Church, 155 E. Janss Road, Thousand Oaks.