William Joseph Deevy, 85, of Beaumont died April 27, 2007 at The Oaks at Beaumont. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 10:00 a.m. Friday, May 4, 2007 at St. Anne Catholic Church with Msgr. Rev. Michael Jamail as celebrant. Burial will follow in Houston National Cemetery, Houston under the direction of Broussard’s, 2000 McFaddin, Beaumont. A Christian Vigil will be 6:00 p.m. Thursday evening, May 3, 2007 at the mortuary.
Deevy was born in New York City on November 16, 1921, the first born of Jefferson and Mary W. Deevy. He cherished being a New Yorker of Irish descent and oft quoted Peter A. Quinn who wrote, “ I knew by some special grace that God had chosen me to be Irish, not only Irish but ‘New York’ Irish.”
Bill was raised in Rockville Centre, N.Y. and graduated from South Side High School. His college education was interrupted by service with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the Asiatic Pacific Theater of WWII. After receiving an honorable discharge, he returned to the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn to complete his formal education under the G.I Bill. In 1954 he moved to Beaumont as resident engineer in O’Donnell’s Gulf Coast office.
In 1968 with Ray Shannon he formed the engineering partnership of Deevy and Shannon. In 1975 Deevy and Shannon, Inc. was formed with Deevy as president. He retired from the corporation in 1987.
He was a licensed professional engineer in Texas, New York, and New Jersey and a member of Tau Beta Pi, national engineering honor society; the National Society of Professional Engineers; the American Society of Mechanical Engineers; and the Construction Specifications Institute. In 1973 the Sabine Chapter, TSPE, named him Engineer of the Year. He was listed in WHO’S WHO IN ENGINEERING, 5th Edition. Deevy was active in professional, church, and community affairs. His service in engineering circles included Chairman of the Board of Ethical Review, NSPE; Judiciary Board, NSPE; Southwest Region Vice-Chairman, Professional Engineers in Private Practice of NSPE; Chairman, Consulting Engineers Section, TSPE; Board of Directors, TSPE; Board of Trustees, PAC Engineers; and president Sabine chapter, TSPE.
He was a member of St. Anne Catholic Church since 1954 where he was a lector, a sponsor in RCIA and a member of the parish pastoral council which he chaired in 1999. He was a parish delegate to the Synod of the Diocese of Beaumont and a member of the synod writing commission that produced the document of social justice.
Deevy was appointed a Knight of St. Gregory the Great by Pope Paul VI in 1966. It is one of the five Pontifical Orders of Papal Knighthood.
He was a Secular Franciscan, formerly the Third Order of St. Francis. He had been co-chairman of the Beaumont Chapter, National Conference of Christians and Jews; grand knight, Beaumont Council 951, Knights of Columbus; president, Serra Club of Beaumont; Lay Director, Cursillo Leaders School; member, National Secretariat, Cursillo de Cristiandad. He served on the Diocesan Commission for the Christian Unity; Diocesan Building Commission; Social Action Department, Texas Catholic Conference; and the Board of Directors of Project Equality of Texas. He headed Operation Understanding among churches of all denominations in Beaumont in the ‘60’s.
Bill was predeceased by his beloved wife, Dorothy Ann Mulcare Deevy, whom he married on May 18, 1946. He is survived by three daughters: Anne L Bottles of Williamsburg, VA, her husband George, and their three children, Christine, John, and Michelle; Mary K Sparks of Arlington, VA, and her son, Christopher; and Susan A. Nadeau of Colonie, NY, her husband Jerry, and their two children, Patricia and Michael. Also surviving are his sister, Mary M. Hajek of Orlando, FL and her husband Victor and their sons Jeff and Michael.
