By Rebecca Goodman
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Dr. John William Devanney Jr., a retired neurosurgeon and faculty member of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, died of congestive heart failure Sept. 27 in Naples, Fla. He was 87.
Dr. Devanney held a number of research positions at UC, including head of the neurophysiological laboratory and director of the national stroke project. He wrote more than 30 research papers.
Dr. Devanney, born in Cincinnati, graduated from St. Xavier High School and Cornell University.
He received his M.D. from the UC College of Medicine in 1941 and interned at Jewish Hospital.
He joined the Army Air Corps in 1942 and worked as a flight surgeon in the Pacific Theater during World War II. He attained the rank of major.
Upon his return to Cincinnati, Dr. Devanney began postgraduate training. He opened a private practice in Mount Auburn in 1950 and became a part-time instructor of neurosurgery at UC.
He closed his practice in 1959 to work full time for UC until he retired in 1975.
In 1938, he married Margaret "Peggy" Coll. After the war, they moved to the home on Section Road in Amberley Village where they lived for 35 years and raised nine children.
"Dad was the moral center of our family," said his son Dick Devanney of Warrington, Va.
Dr. Devanney supported numerous Catholic charities and served for many years on the Amberley Village Planning Commission.
His first wife died in 1984.
In addition to his son Dick, survivors include: his wife of 17 years, Margaret Hickey Devanney; four daughters, Alice Maginni of Newtown, Cathy Devanney of Brandon, Fla., Peggy Devanney of Kenwood and Mary Misdom of Dallas; four other sons, Jack of Tavernier, Fla., Dave of High Cay, Bahamas, Jim of Pleasant Ridge and Tom of Sequatchie County, Tenn.; a sister, Debbie Devitt of Kenwood; a brother, Mike Devanney of Goshen; 10 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
Services have been held. Burial was at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Montgomery.
Memorials: Little Sisters of the Poor, 476 Riddle Road, Cincinnati, OH 45220-2493; or St. Francis Seraph Church, 1615 Vine St., Cincinnati, OH 45202.
E-mail rgoodman@enquirer.com
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