‘Devine’s Sunshine’: Colleagues, Friends, Students Form Fundraiser Team To Honor Memory of New Canaan Teacher

When Jay Devine’s brother, Tim, died of lung cancer in 1999, he left behind a family that included three small children. Five years later, together with those kids, his wife Cathy and his own children—Kelly, Kevin, Daniel, Robert and Kim—Jay Devine began participating in a fundraising walk that benefitted the cancer center at Norwalk Hospital. Known today as the Whittingham Cancer Center Walk & Sally’s Run, the event grew into an important annual family gathering for the Devines. It became so important to Kelly Devine, in fact, that even those who knew her casually as a colleague in the New Canaan Public Schools district say they understood it was a high priority for the teacher. Kelly died suddenly following a brief illness on April 7.