Maeve Devlin

1924 - 2022

Maeve Devlin
November 11, 1924 - June 23, 2022
Resident of Santa Cruz
Our lovely and sweet mother, Maeve Devlin, slipped away peacefully and quietly in her sleep in the early hours of June 23rd.
Born in County Kildare, Ireland, and raised partly in Dublin, mom had a lifelong love of both the countryside and the vibrancy of a city. As a young woman she loved to go to dances with her friends and was very athletic. She was part of a club where she played tennis, and competitive badminton. It was at the badminton net where she met and was smitten by the charming Thomas Devlin from Northern Ireland. They married in 1949, moved to London and, from there, to South Africa. Daughters Angela and Deirdre were born and, when they were just toddlers, adventure called Thomas and Maeve, and they emigrated with the two tiny girls to the US via passenger ship to New York and a train to San Francisco. Because of Thomas' work, the family moved around Northern CA to numerous cities; daughters Brenda and Maura were welcomed along the way. The Devlin family finally settled in Santa Cruz in 1963.
She was a talented and excellent tennis player all her life and was often in demand as a doubles partner. In her last couple of decades, mom took up golf where she was a welcome addition to any foursome. In both sports, she played tournaments all over the central coast and made many friends. She was thrilled and proud to claim a hole-in-one as a highlight of her golfing days. Besides the sports, mom was a great one for dancing. She taught Irish step dancing to young girls in the 70s and took her troop to many events where they delighted audiences with their intricate steps. Besides tennis and golf, mom always loved to dance and at different times joined a line dancing class, was active in Irish ceilis at the San Francisco Comhaltas, and was a member of a Scottish folk dancing group. She was always in motion.
Many in Santa Cruz will remember Maeve as the proprietor of the Holy Cross Mission Store where, for many years, she sold the religious items people wanted to commemorate special spiritual moments. If she didn't have what a person wanted, she was always willing to order it. She took pride in carrying beautiful and unusual artisan pieces for one-of-kind gifts. With the Mission right in the middle between Holy Cross schools and the church, many people knew mom and enjoyed chatting with her as they went to Mass or picked up kids after school.
Her entire life, Maeve was a devout Catholic and was very active at Holy Cross Church where, she was in the choir and participated as a Eucharistic minister for many years. She also managed the chapel at Mission Santa Cruz making sure it was set up and ready for any masses being celebrated there. She was involved in the many activities her children took part in while in school at Holy Cross and Marello schools. Mom could be depended on for her help and support in whatever was taking place.
Maeve was very proud to be an American citizen and loved her adopted country. But she never forgot her roots and raised her family to have great pride in our Irish heritage. She was also famous for showing up at events with a plate of her Irish scones which were always the first item to go in any spread of food. Thomas and Maeve were intrepid travelers, ready to go at a moment's notice. Besides visiting multiple beautiful sites in the United States, they took off to explore many extraordinary places like the Galapagos, Africa, Australia, Europe and, of course, trips to Ireland. Mom always had a deep and abiding love for the green fields of Ireland and her family there. In her last years, despite becoming frail and unable to travel, she yearned to go home again.
Above all else, mom loved her family and was always interested and involved in her children's lives offering support and affection. We have many happy memories of family gatherings, camping trips, and visits to our homes, where she was always up for an adventure. She was the number one fan of her grandchildren and could be found at dance competitions, school performances, ball games, martial arts, and track meets cheering them on.
Maeve was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Thomas. She is survived by her daughters Angela Devlin, Deirdre Devlin, Brenda Devlin-Craig (Peter), and Maura Devlin-Buchinski (John), and her much loved and precious grandchildren Sarah, Connor, and Ronan Buchinski. She also loved her nieces and nephews in Australia, England, Ireland, and Scotland.
Is breá linn tú mam
(We love you mom)
A memorial mass will be held on Friday, July 8th at 1:00 pm in the Holy Cross Catholic Church. In lieu of flowers, donations in Maeve's memory can be made to St. Francis soup kitchen or your favorite charity.


View the online memorial for Maeve Devlin