KENT, Conn.—A memorial service for Donald J. DeVita of Kent will be held Thursday, Sept. 18, at Sacred Heart Church.
He passed away peacefully at the age of 80 on Thursday, July 24, 2025, with his family at his side.
He was born Nov. 12, 1944, in Little Rock, Ark., son of Joseph and Julia (Doyle) DeVita. He attended Brooklyn Prep and went on to graduate from Adelphi Academy in 1963. He then attended Lafayette College for two years before joining the Army from 1969 to 1972. He returned to Lafayette and graduated in 1974.
Donald moved from Brooklyn, N.Y., to Brewster, N.Y., where the family summered for years. He started his career with the Putnam County Department of Social Services, investigating child abuse and went on to become a probation officer, ending his career as Director of Probation, for Putnam County, N.Y., retiring in 1999.
Don and his wife, Carolyn, moved to Kent in 1984, where he became a member of Sacred Heart Church, joined the Lions Club and became a certified EMT with the Kent Fire Department.
He is survived by his wife, Carolyn D. (Webber) DeVita; his brothers, Joseph and his wife, Marilyn, of Venice, Fla., and James DeVita and his wife, Elsa, of Hastings on Hudson, N.Y.; sisters Carol DeVita of Brewster, N.Y., and Julia DeVita and her partner, Jerry Malanga, of Little Silver, N.J.; a stepdaughter, Patricia Fischer of Mahopac, N.Y.; four step-grandchildren; three step-great-grandchildren; many nieces and nephews on the DeVita side and Webber side, all extremely special to Don; and brothers-in-law, Michael Webber and Patricia of Belfast, Maine, and Glenn Soares of Belfast, Maine. He was predeceased by his first wife, Joan Bundschuh DeVita, in 1978.
The funeral mass will be held Thursday, Sept. 18, at 11 a.m. at Sacred Heart Church, 17 Bridge St.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Donald’s name to PanCAN (Pancreatic Cancer Action Network), a pancreatic cancer foundation at Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Donation Processing Center, P.O. Box 5041, Boone, IA 50950-0041, or to The Kent Connecticut Ambulance at Care of the Kent Fire Department, P.O. Box 355 Kent, CT 06757.
