With great sadness, we let our readers of the passing of Fr. James Devine (88), a longtime JFK Chaplain at Our Lady of the Skies. Fr. Devine was born on May 13, 1934, ordained to the priesthood on May 28, 1960, and died on November 1, 2022.
Father Devine was appointed the full-time Chaplain to Our Lady of the Skies Chapel at John F. Kennedy International Airport in October 2008. Father Devine loved to work with his fellow Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim chaplains.
Father Devine was at the airport when Pan Am Flight 103 crashed in Lockerbie, Scotland, and was immediately sent to console the victims’ families waiting in the Pan Am lounge. He was also at the Travel Lodge Hotel to help family members of victims on TWA Flight 800.
In 1995, Father Devine was appointed one of the first Port Authority Police Chaplains, encountering yet another tragedy during the September 11 attacks of 2001.
“We lost at least eight policemen from JFK and many more from the Port Authority,” Fr. Devine said. “I did many of the funerals for those lost during the attacks because I personally knew them.”