Tom Devine

Tom Devine was born in Boonville, Missouri where he lived with his parents Michael Thomas Devine and Marguerite Felten Devine, and his beloved older sisters Patricia Devine Kimberley and Charlotte Devine Quinn. After graduating from Saints Peter and Paul high school he attended the University of Missouri and joined the Beta Theta Pi fraternity before joining the army. He spent part of his army years stationed in southern France, and while there he developed a life-long love of all things French and travelled to France many times in his life.

Tom earned a masters degree in architecture from the University of Washington in St. Louis and then moved to Kansas City, Missouri and began a long and successful career as an architect, owning his own firm for the majority of that time. It was in Kansas City where on a blind date he met the love of his life Betty Sullivan, a recent Kansas City Art Institute graduate originally from Oklahoma. They married in 1962, despite the fact that he caused her to get kicked out of her apartment. They recently celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary.

During his architectural career, Tom designed many local and regional projects, and several international ones as well. He notably worked on the team that designed the original Kansas City International Airport, and he designed the addition to the Truman Presidential Library in Independence, Missouri. He travelled to Brunei where he designed a palace for the sultan; he worked on the remodel in the 1980s of the Raffles hotel in Singapore. And his firm designed an arena for the Sydney Olympics. After retiring from architecture, Tom devoted his creative energies to researching and developing an electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing airplane, acquiring a patent in the process in 2018: patent number 10107196. 

Tom loved traveling with Betty and their three children, taking them on many canoe and camping trips in Missouri, hiking trips in Colorado, and even driving the family on an adventure from Kansas City to Mazatlan, Mexico in 1972 in a Volvo station wagon. He loved spending time with his sisters and their families and always looked forward to the big family reunions. He shared his lifelong love and appreciation of music with his family and friends, inspiring his children to learn and play music. Nothing gave him more pleasure than to listen to his sons Mike and Tim play their guitars together.

Tom passed peacefully on a Sunday afternoon after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. He was 90 years old. He is survived by his devoted wife Betty, and children Mike Devine (Julie), Nicole Devine (Oscar Mraz), and Tim Devine; grandchildren Marguerite Devine-Mraz and Trekker Sibley. He is also survived by many loving nieces, nephews, and cousins.

A visitation will be held at Visitation Catholic Church, 5141 Main Street in Kansas City on October 24 starting at 10am, with a Funeral Mass following at 11am. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to the Heart of America Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, https://www.alz.org/kansascity.