Obituary of Daisy Devine (nee Knight)

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Daisy Letitia Devine on January 6, 2020 at the age of 98. Born March 7, 1921, in Crawley, Sussex, England, she came to Canada as a war bride in 1946. She was the beloved wife of 58 years to the late Earl Devine (2005). She is survived by their son Linden (Darlene), daughter Shirley (late Richard Roy), and daughter Earleen (Jim Stark). She was predeceased by her parents Sidney Knight and Letitia Kilford, her sister Gladys and brother George, her first husband Dalton Devine (July, 1944, Battle of the Falaise Pocket, France), and in 2015 their son, Andrew (Claire Dagenais). Daisy was the beloved grandmother to Tamara and Chad Devine, Erin and Megan Roy, and Thea and Martin Gregory. She also leaves behind eight great-grandchildren: Dylan and Riley McLane, Liam and Rylan Devine, Layla, Leah and James Tanner, and Xavier Ducharme. A private memorial service will be held in the spring, at Maple Grove Cemetery in Shawville, Québec. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to the Hayes Funeral Home, Shawville, Québec. Donations to a charity of your choice would be greatly appreciated by the family. Thank you to the staff at CAP in Shawville for the great care Daisy received for the short time she was a resident there. A war widow, Daisy came to Canada on the Queen Mary in 1946. Once here, she met and married her second husband, who was the older brother of her first. Earl happily took over the care of his late brother’s son, and he and Daisy went on to have three more children. Though their life together was marked by family tragedy and difficult financial times, the atmosphere they provided for their four children was one filled with a great sense of security, acceptance and love. Daisy’s priority was always to family. She did manage two trips to England to visit with her family there, and enjoyed numerous visits from English relatives to Canada. She enjoyed gardening, and always wanted an English garden, like her granny’s, or at least a Canadian approximation of one. She was an avid reader, relishing novels, biographies, and books about Canadian and British history. She enjoyed watching curling on TV during winter and Toronto Blue Jays baseball games during summer. She never wanted to be thought of as British; she considered herself a Canadian, through and through. She managed to live independently, in the same home Earl built in 1952, well into her 98th year. Though shy and retiring by nature, for many years Daisy acted as Secretary in the Pontiac Historical Society.