Memories of Harvey Devers

One of my earliest memories of my youngest brother was when my mom’s birth mother decided to reach out to our mom, who had been adopted as a baby. Minnie had heard that our mom recently had her seventh child. She apparently did not ask if it was a boy or a girl. At the time of our grandmother’s visit, Harvey was not quite 2 years old. Our grandmother brought a Red Riding Hood doll, Harvey used to carry it around hugging it. That’s the last I remember of him playing dolls.

Harvey was in early high school when I came home for a visit. He was already becoming a bit of a renegade, feeling his way without the benefit of our mom. I picked up his jacket to move it and noticed a pocket roughly sewn into the lining of the jacket. I looked in the pocket and found pot. I confronted him and he replied it was just oregano – like I didn’t know any better. Thankfully, as far as I know, he did not continue his venture into drugs.

I didn’t see Harvey often after he went to live with our sister, Rita, as I had chosen to live in New Jersey after college. When I visited him again with my husband, David, Harvey was married to Vicki and they had a daughter, Seana, whom he adored.

Harvey became an enterprising young man, collecting what we considered junk, cast off refrigerators, lawn mowers, etc. which he took apart to sell their components or he fixed the items and sold them to support his family.

David and I remember Harvey’s ready smile and good sense of humor. Once when we visited Dad, David decided to try a short-cut through the field instead of driving down the very rutted dirt driveway. Because it had recently rained, the ground in the field was very wet. David got stuck in the mud. Harvey was there and as always was ready to lend a helping hand. He had an old tow truck and attempted to pull David out of the mud, but his truck also got stuck. It took my older brother, Lester, to pull them both out with chains on his truck. They all laughed about it.

I’m sorry that due to health issues that make it hard to travel at this time I can’t be with you to share in some of the memories you have of my brother. I praise God that at the time of his death Harvey knew where he was going. I trust that all of you have prepared for the day when you will stand before the God of the universe to give account of your life.

Marcy Devers Alves, Harvey Devers’ sister