Helen M. Devine

Helen M. N. Devine

May 3, 1932 – November 15, 2025

Longtime Arlington resident Helen M. (Nicoli) Devine died from complications following a fall. Her daughter Jennifer and son Martin, Jr. were by her side. She was 93.

Helen grew up in Somerville and was a graduate of Marycliff Academy and the School of Fine and Applied Arts at Boston University. She taught for over thirty years. She loved being in the classroom and loved her students. Her subjects – music, novels, plays, and poetry - were her lifelong companions.

While raising three children, Helen leaned into community engagement with her trademark high energy. She advocated for Boston schools' integration and grassroots voter education, volunteered for Adventures in Music, ran the Cutter School PTA, taught CCD, and helped launch the Jason Russell House Museum. She even started a folk mass at St. Agnes, despite not playing guitar. She was a relentless optimist. She and Martin, Sr., lifelong practicing Catholics, participated in the "Christian Family Movement" of the 1960s/70s; and joined Voice of the Faithful in 2002.

Helen loved to entertain and was an excellent cook. She hosted legendary Thanksgivings for extended family and any friends of Jennifer, Martin and Suzanne, who couldn't make it home for the holiday. She first met her future son-in-law Bob at Thanksgiving. Helen's eggplant parmesan, while not exactly a fixture on New England menus, was especially popular.

Helen cherished her sorority sisters, her 50+ year friendships with the "Parmenter moms" and her newer friends at the Catholic Women's Club. An avid symphony, opera and theatre goer, her hands-down favorite "drama" was the weekly Shakespeare class she attended on Academy Street.

Helen curated family adventures big and small, pulling the kids out of school a month early several times to visit England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Switzerland, Italy, and Greece. Although she seemed like "the boss," Martin Sr., who died in 2021, was her rock. They were married for nearly 63 years. When Martin decided to stop travelling before a trip to Egypt (he worried he'd fall into the Nile; Helen still went,) they bought a house in Falmouth. Seemingly oblivious to the beaches, they chose a home based on proximity to the main library. It suited them perfectly.

Helen spent her last summer in Falmouth with Jennifer and Martin Jr., but as her memory fractured, once-favored activities, and even time with friends, became too challenging and she only wanted family time. Her love for them remained fierce.

Helen is survived by her three children: Jennifer Camp, J. Martin Devine, Jr and Suzanne Karr; her son-in-law Robert Karr, grandsons James Karr, Alexander Karr and Stuart Camp, and her granddaughter Rachel Camp.

The family extends their gratitude for the exceptional treatment and compassion Helen received from the trauma, psychiatry, palliative care and hospice teams at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center. They also extend their deepest gratitude for the decades of care she and Martin Sr. received from their brilliant and kind physician, Dr. Deneen Pelletier.

Relatives and friends are invited to a visitation at Saint Agnes Church in Arlington on Monday, November 24th from 10:30 - 11:30 am, followed by her funeral mass at 11.30 am. Burial is at Oak Grove Cemetery