Dorothy Ann Mulcare Deevy, 81, died in her sleep in her home in Beaumont on April 9, 2006. Family visitation will be from 4:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, April 12, 2006 at Broussard’s, 2000 McFaddin, Beaumont followed by a Christian Vigil at 6:00 p.m. led by Reverend William Manger and Reverend James Dempsey. A Funeral Liturgy, led by Rev. Msgr. Michael Jamail will be held in St. Anne Catholic Church 10:00 a.m. Thursday, April 13, 2006. Burial will be in Houston National Cemetery, Houston.
Dorothy Ann Mulcare Deevy was born on June 12, 1924 in Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, the first born child of John Stephen Mulcare and Anna Flynn Mulcare. She attended St. Raymond’s School in Lynbrook, New York and St. Agnes Academy in Rockville Centre, New York from whence she was graduated in June 1941.
Dot, as she was known to her legion of friends, matriculated at Seton Hill College, Greensburg, Pennsylvania where she had been awarded an academic scholarship. She had completed two years of studies at Seton Hill when wartime travel difficulties caused her to interrupt her studies and accept emplyoment in the New York office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. She received several merit citations from the FBI, including one for alertly noticing a connection between separate files that led to the arrest and conviction of a murderer.
In 1945, she became the secretary to the Bursar of the Metropolitan Museum of Natural History, a position she held until she resigned to marry.
On May 18, 1946 she married William J. Deevy of Rockville Centre in Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church in Lynbrook, New York. The couple had met while each was playing in a symphonic band sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Rockville Centre.
Since residential construction had virtually ceased during World War II, places to live were difficult to find for returning veterans, the couple lived in several temporary situations before they moved into an apartment in New York City on the lower East Side of Manhattan in Stuyvesant Town, a huge development built by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company exclusively for veterans of World War II and their families. During this time, Dot was employed by THE VILLAGER, a weekly newspaper published for the residents of Stuyvesant Town.
Her husband was transferred to Beaumont in 1954 to head the Gulf Coast office of James P. O’Donnell, Engineers. In the tradition of the biblical Ruth, she moved far from family and friends without complaint. Having been raised in an extremely close-knit family, it was a profound transition for a young lady turning 30, but one she bore with dignity and grace. The move to a new milieu strengthened two elements of her daily routine to the point of becoming indispensable. She talked with her sister in New York daily for 15-30 minutes. She engaged in lengthy prayerful conversation with her beloved Jesus before breakfast.
In August 1955 she gave birth to a daughter, Mary Katherine, in St. Therese Hospital. Almost eight years passed until, in January 1963, a second daughter, Anne Loretta, was born in St. Elizabeth Hospital.
When both their children were in school she continued her higher education at Lamar University, Beaumont. She graduated from Lamar with a B.A. in History. A year later she was awarded a Secondary Education Certificate for the State of Texas. Thereafter, she was a substitute teacher in both the Beaumont and South Park Independent School Districts where she made many enduring friendships. She was a member of Phi Alpha Theta, International History Honor Society.
Dot spent many summers at the family home she and her husband had built at Lake Bomoseen, Vermont. Although a native New Yorker and an adopted Texan, her first love was the Green Mountain State, the first independent nation to join the original thirteen states. She developed many close friendships with Vermonters that endured for decades despite being in Vermont two or three months annually and a weekend or two in the winter.
When she stopped teaching in the Beaumont schools, she became the office manager of the Children’s House Montessori School. She was a Water Safety Instructor for the American Red Cross and taught swimming for many years.
Dot was an active member of St. Anne Catholic Church since 1954. In the ‘60’s she was a leader in the Cursillo de Cristiandad and gave several of the talks at the weekend events. She was also active in St. Anne’s Ladies, serving one year as president; the 49+ers; RENEW; Bible study; and was a facilitator at the small group faith sharing program. To increase her knowledge of the Bible, she attended study classes at Victory Temple where her outgoing nature won for her a host of friends.
In addition, to her activity with organized church events, Dot involved herself with others whom she perceived to need help. Her intuition in that regard was almost always correct. She was a strong and articulate advocate of her Catholic faith while being tolerant and respectful of the beliefs of others. She ministered to the needy without regard to race, color or creed. To those who knew her well, it was apparent she was accurately described by the words of the song. “And they will know we are Christians by our love.” She believed it was her vocation to bring the love of Jesus to the needy by quiet and personal acts of charity for which she had been graced with the talent.
She is survived by her husband, William J. Deevy; her two daughters and four grandchildren, Mary Katherine Sparks of Tampa, Florida and Mary’s son, Christopher, a senior at the Texas Maritime Academy and Anne L. Bottles and her husband George and their children Christine, John, and Michelle of Williamsbrug, Virginia; sister, Elizabeth Kleinhenz of Garden City, New York; nephew, James Kleinhenz; and nieces, Jane Kleinhenz McCarthy and Joan Kleinhenz Heiser.
Memorial contributions may be made to St. Anne Catholic School, 375 N 11th Street, Beaumont, Texas 77702.
