treesinthewoods.com

Phillip Thomas Devin [ b. 02 Jun 1941, d. 06 Nov 2011 ] Braintree-- Ret. Deputy Chief Phillip T. Devin B.F.D., 70 years of age, entered Life Eternal on Sunday, November 6, 2011. Phil was a veteran of thirty-three years with the Braintree Fire Department retiring in the year 2000.  He graduated from Braintree High School with the class of 1959.  He subsequently took courses in Fire Science and was a certified Emergency Medical Technician. Phil was an active parishioner and communicant at Saint Thomas More Parish in Braintree. He belonged to Braintree Sons of Italy Lodge 760 and the Braintree Lodge of Elks.  He enjoyed golf locally, at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina as well as St. Andrew’s in Scotland. He also traveled to Aruba where he spent many happy days. He was the beloved husband of Rose M. (Lauria) Devin.  He was the devoted father of James M. Devin married to Debra Devin of Ellicott City, Maryland and John P. Devin married to Ellen Devin of Westfield, New Jersey. He was the loving grandfather of Liam, Kayla, Mae, Gwyn, Alese and Tanner Devin.

Phil is survived by his brothers Jack Devin of Sandwich, Robert Devin of Braintree, Christopher Devin of Quincy, David Devin of Bridgewater and Joel Devin of California.  He is also survived by many nieces and nephews.  Visiting hours will be Thursday, November 10th from 4:00 to 8:00 P.M. at the Mortimer N. Peck-Russell Peck Funeral Home 516 Washington St., Braintree.  There will be a gathering at the funeral home on Friday, November 11th (Veterans’ Day) at 9:00 A.M. to be followed by a Funeral Mass in the Church of Saint Thomas More, Elm Street and Hawthorn Road, Braintree at 10:00 A.M. The Reverend Father James McCarthy will be the celebrant. Burial will follow at Blue Hill Cemetery, Braintree.  Memorial donations may be sent to the Hospice of the South Shore, 100 Bay State Drive, Braintree, MA. 02184 or to Saint Thomas More Parish, 8 Hawthorn Road, Braintree, MA. 02184

Follow Up

Devin Family in Medieval/Renaissance attire during the Devin - Poley Wedding. Aug. 2010

A fairy-tale wedding...

Jonathan J. Devin married his childhood sweetheart, Jessica M. Poley on August 28th, 2010. The outdoor medieval / renaissance style wedding ceremony was held near Lake Tahoe, NV where the two had met each other at the age of 3 months old. A great time was had by all family and friends of the couple.

Devin Family Photo: L > R:
Tyler, Gail, Joel, Bryanna, Rick, Jessica, Jonathan, Veracruz, Linda, David, Rick.

Elizabeth "Bessie" Amelia (Woods) Wiley.

Elizabeth "Bessie" Amelia (Woods) Wiley
[ b. 5 April 1923, d. 13 February 2009 ]

Lifelong Alaskan Elizabeth “Bessie” Amelia Woods Wiley, 85, died February 13, 2009 at Providence Extended Care Center. Her family wrote, “After 10 years with Alzheimer’s, God decided -- and Mom agreed -- that it was time for her to make her final journey home. She passed quickly and very peacefully with her daughter at her side.”

Visitation will begin at 1:30, followed by a Mass of Celebration at 2:30, Saturday, February 21, 2009, at Our Lady of Compassion Chapel, Providence Extended Care Center ( 4900 Eagle St.). The Rev. Aloysius Ezenwata will officiate with Chaplain Dona Boschee (retired) assisting. Honorary pallbearers are: Larry Boots,Thomas Dugan, Representative Hugh Fate, (Ret.), Byron Haley,Senator Albert Kookesh,and Norman L. Phillips, Sr. Burial will take place at Angelus Memorial Park in the spring.

Bessie was born April 5, 1923, the youngest of 7 children, to Annie (Pitka) and Alfred Lyman Woods in Rampart. Her mother died when she was 6 and her father just before she turned 10. Bessie was then raised by a family friend and her older sister before moving to Eklutna to attend the Eklutna Vocational School from which she graduated in 1942.

Bessie later moved to Anchorage and began work at Providence Hospital in 1945 as a kitchen helper. By 1949 she had advanced to the bookkeeping department. Bessie’s family wrote, “Being strong willed and proud of her Athabaskan heritage, during the late1940’s she waged her own war against discrimination by making routine rounds of Anchorage establishments and removing signs that read ‘Natives Not Allowed’.”

Bessie met her future husband, Silas (Si) Wiley, January 1950 when he applied for work at Providence. They were married August 12, 1950 at Holy Family Cathedral. After a sabbatical, she worked in medical records at the Alaska Native Hospital until the birth of their daughter Michele in 1957. Her family wrote “Bessie then made a career change and became a full-time wife, homemaker, and mother. Some of the challenges she met in this role included supervising the reconstruction of the family home after the 1964 Earthquake and again after a 1976 house fire.”

Bessie was an avid gardener whose beautiful rock garden became a routine stop for tour buses. She was a member of the Spenard Business and Professional Women’s Organization and served as a Girl Scout Troup Leader. Bessie loved to go camping, hunting, and fishing, and shot her first caribou when she was 8 years old. She was an accomplished bowler winning many awards. She nurtured her musical talent throughout her life. In high school she played the saxophone. Later she learned the organ and became a member of the Holy Family Cathedral Choir. In 1982 she was part of the special papal choir, singing for Pope John Paul II at St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome. She loved to travel and as a devout Catholic she made several religious trips around the world.

Bessie is survived by her beloved husband of 58 years, Si Wiley; daughter Michele Wiley; Granddaughter Megan Garzel and her husband Andrew, all of Anchorage; great-grandchildren John Cross of Arizona, Nathan and Gabriel Cross, and Ariana Garzel all of Anchorage; Sister-in-law Judy Woods of Manley Hot Springs; dear family friend Byron Haley of Fairbanks, and too many nieces, nephews, and cousins to mention.

Bessie was preceded in death by her sisters Elaine Evans and Sally Hudson; brothers Alfred, Walter, Harold, and Fred Woods.

The family would like to thank all those at Providence Extended Care who provided Bessie with many years of loving care.

Flowers are welcome but the family also encourages donations to the donor’s favorite charity. Condolence correspondence may be sent to her family at 3505 Stargate Circle, Anchorage, AK 99517

Arrangements are with Kehl's Forest Lawn Mortuary.

Mackenzie Tina Murphy - Christmas 2008

Mackenzie Tina Murphy
[ b. 7 October 2008]

Introducing a new member to our ever growing family tree - Mackenzie Tina Murphy! Mackenzie was born on October 7th 2008. She is the daughter of Tara Danielle True & Greg Murphy and is the great-granddaughter of Virginia Mucciaccio - the original founder of treesinthewoods.com. Mackenzie's papers are already on the way to Plymouth to make her a brand new little member of the Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants (Mackenzie Tina Murphy is the 12th great-granddaughter of Mayflower passenger, Degory Priest). We offer her our sincerest family welcome and best wishes.

Ethel Martha Woods (Ledegang) and older sister Dorothy Bertha Woods (Devin).

Ethel Martha (Woods) Ledegang at her 100th birthday in May 2007.

Ethel Martha (Woods) Ledegang
[ b. 27 May 1907, d. 16 Aug 2008]

Of Dedham and California, passed away peacefully surrounded by her loving family August 16, 2008, age 101. She was the wife of the late Daniel Ledegang. Mother of Virginia Mucciaccio of Dedham and Carolyn Romaker of Thousand Oaks, CA. She is survived by her grandchildren, Nancy (Mucciaccio) and Peter True of Westwood, Daniel Mucciaccio of Dedham, Richard Mucciaccio of Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Laurie Brennan of Medford, Stephen Romaker of Simi Valley, CA, Julie (Romaker) and Sam Palazzola of Apple Valley, CA, and her dearest friend Janet Ford. Ethel was a great grandmother to Tara (True) and Gregory Murphy of Dedham, Tracy, Thomas, Travis and the late Tina True of Westwood, Richard Mucciaccio of Atlanta, GA, Erik, Patrick III and Jessica Brennan of Medford, Stephen Michael Romaker and Tessa Palazzola of CA. She was known for the handwork she created for the Mass Daughters of the American Revolution, her volunteer hours at Hillside School for Boys in Marlboro, and for the thousands of caps she knitted for newborns and Native-American children. Ethel was a member of the Contentment Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, Dedham Women's Club, Contentment Chapter, DAR, Massachusetts Mayflower Society, and many other lineage organizations. Visitation will be Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 12 noon at the George F. Doherty & Sons, Wilson-Cannon Funeral Home, 456 High St., DEDHAM, followed by a Graveside Service at Milton Cemetery at 12:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers donations may be made in Ethel's memory to the Sophia Snow House, c/o Cecilia Davlin, 1215 Centre St., West Roxbury 02132-7710; or to the UNH Rowing in memory of Tina True, c/o Rachel Rawlinson, 128 Main St., Durham, NH 03824-1950. For directions and guestbook www.gfdohery.com George F. Doherty & Sons Funeral Home Dedham781-326-0500. Published in the Boston Globe on 8/18/2008.

Andrew and Megan Garzel
with sons Gabriel & Nathan Cross

Michele and Megan visiting with Cousins Dorothy Shockley & Joanna Hams

In March 2007 Cousins Dorothy Shockley and Michele Wiley vowed to finish the task that their beloved Aunt Sally wanted completed . . . our "Woods Family Tree". In June, when Michele’s daughter Megan was married, they were honored to have Cousins - Dorothy, Lilly Evans (Aunt Sally’s daughter), and Lilly’s daughter Joanna Hams, all in attendance.

During the reception, talk turned to our Woods family history and how we wished to start work on our family tree once again. The discussion was a great motivation and the following day Michele pulled out the genealogy documents that she had received from Cousin Virginia (‘Ginny’) Ledegang Mucciaccio of Massachusetts back in the mid 1990’s.

Perseverance paid off and Michele was able to locate Cousin Ginny (“master genealogist’) in Massachusetts, Cousin Rick Devin (“genealogist, musician & web designer”) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Claude Keogh (“Alaskan genealogy specialist” ) in Galena, Alaska. The four of us traded emails and genealogy information back and forth and made the decision to create treesinthewoods.com!