Active in town, avid reader
Published June 24, 2020
LYNNFIELD — Celeste (Dubord) Devaney, 98, a longtime resident of Lynnfield and West Peabody, and a recent resident of Portsmouth, R.I., passed away on June 20, 2020.
She was an active member of Lynnfield’s oldest book group for nearly 50 years, served on the Lynnfield Historical Commission, and made countless pounds of baked beans for the Lynnfield Historical Society’s annual Country Store. She also chauffeured John Updike to a talk for the Lynnfield Friends of the Library, and dressed for the occasion for Lynnfield’s Bicentennial Ball.
An avid reader, she enjoyed a hot cup of tea with homemade goodies at her side. A graduate of UMass Amherst, then Mass State with a B.S. and M.S. in food technology, Celeste worked in the lab at Anheuser-Busch while her husband Tom attended St. Louis University School of Dentistry; she subsequently tested barrage balloons after the Navy assigned Tom to the Fargo Building’s Navy dental clinic in South Boston.
Born and raised in New Bedford by the late Joseph and Margaret (Wilson) Dubord, she is predeceased by her husband, Dr. Thomas E. Devaney; and her sisters Ethel (Rothwell) Knight and Bernice (Dubord) Caudell. Her daughter Anne Celeste Devaney of Portsmouth, Rhode Island and her nephew Jay Matthew Caudell of Tulsa, Oklahoma survive Celeste.
Her graveside service was held at Forest Hill Cemetery, Lynnfield on Wednesday, June 24. A celebration of life will be held when larger gatherings are permitted.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Haven from Hunger, Citizens Inn, 81 Main Street Peabody, MA 01960.
