Dorothy Frances Devine

Dorothy Frances Devine, 74, of Peace Dale, died on April 7, 2022, at home. She is survived by her wife, Beatrice Ellen Palmer, and Ms. Palmer's sons, Matthew Allen Palmer of East Greenwich and Scott Michael Palmer of Peace Dale. Born in Evanston, Illinois in 1947, Ms. Devine was the daughter of the late James Francis Devine and Eleanore Virginia (Edwards) Devine. A graduate of New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois and Wellesley College in Massachusetts, she moved to Southern Rhode Island in 1978.
Ms. Devine worked for 22 years at Competitive Human Resources Strategies, LLC of Narragansett. In retirement, she taught cancer survivors' exercise programs at the South County YMCA and was trained as a metastatic (Stage IV) breast cancer educator by Living Beyond Breast Cancer. She did outreach to individual metastatic breast cancer survivors and programs at South County Hospital and the Green Line Apothecary. She was a member of the Willett Free Library Poets' Group, and in 2019 published a memoir in poems, PATCHWORK.
Ms. Devine loved living in a village with "peace" in its name. From high school forward, she was an active volunteer for peace and racial justice, the environment, and cancer patient education. She tested the water quality of Saugatucket Pond for a decade as a part of Watershed Watch. From 1996-2002, she was Board President of the Saugatucket River Coalition, which lobbied successfully for a cleanup of the Rose Hill Landfill Superfund site and for a new riverside park and outdoor classroom in Wakefield. In 2005 she won the R.I. Rivers Council Award.
Ms. Devine is predeceased by her brother Philip Edwards Devine. She is survived by her brother James Goldfarb Devine, his wife Fran, of Culver City, California, and a nephew, Guthrie Goldfarb Devine, of Altadena, California; her sister in law Celia Devine of Providence and North Bath, Maine.
A celebration of her life will be at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of South County; a date and time have not yet been decided. A gathering of friends and family at the Devine-Palmer home will follow the service. In lieu of flowers, contributions to METAvivor Research and Support, Inc., 1783 Forest Drive #184, Annapolis, MD 21401 would be appreciated. Local contributions can be made to the Friends of the Saugatucket through our fiscal agent, the Salt Ponds Coalition.
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