Devine, William G.

Fr. William G. Devine, 82, died at Campion Center in Weston, Mass. on June 20, 2010.  He was born in Dorchester, a heavily Irish-Catholic section of Boston, and graduated from Boston College High School in 1944, after which he entered the Society at Shadowbrook.

After philosophy he studied economics at Boston College for a year, then went to Holy Cross College to teach economics and serve as assistant director in the Institute of Industrial Relations there.  He did theology at Weston and tertianship at Pomfret, CT, then went in 1959 to Fairfield University to teach philosophy and economics there for the next thirty-eight years.  During several of these years he commuted weekly to Fordham University to take the courses required for a doctorate in economics.  Like some others he didn’t complete the dissertation for the degree, but unlike some others he had no serious regrets about this.  He said it never cramped his style or dampened his enthusiasm for teaching.  At this time he became involved also in retreat work and spiritual direction and found great satisfaction in that.  Because of his involvement in 12-step programs he was much in demand for spiritual direction and retreats for members of these groups as well, and became a sort of chaplain for a group that had distanced themselves from the Church.

In 1987 he returned to Boston to serve for seven years as provincial assistant for social and pastoral ministries and director of Campion Renewal Center.  He spent the next seven years in retreat work and as superior at Gonzaga Retreat House in Gloucester, MA, followed by a year of pastoral work at the Province’s Urban Center in Boston.  Medical problems required him to come to Campion Health Center in 2005 but he continued in spiritual direction and as co-director at the Center for Religious Development in Cambridge, MA, and later served as treasurer at Campion.  He was a affable man and a willing worker who served fruitfully in a variety of Jesuit ministries, old and new.