A man of many talents, shared his life, energy, and vision with Augusta. The CSRA owes the Devaney name a lot, from riverwalk to downtown growth, he made it happen. He took a fragile environment and made it stable again.

Charles you will be missed, personally and collectively. Thank you for giving us your heart.

I worked with Mayor DeVaney on a special adult literacy project back in the early 1990's. He was so very cooperative and extremely helpful in setting up The Augusta-Richmond Couty Commission on Adult Literacy and hosting a kick-off breakfast for that project. That project was the catalyst for many of the good things which happened in adult literacy in our area well into the beginning of the 2000's.

Mayor DeVaney was a good leader and a great citizen to Augusta. He shall be deeply missed.

Sheila Hightower Allen

Charles DeVaney was my friend. I was on his speed dial. He was on mine. He used to come over and play my piano while I mixed a martini. He loved Augusta, England, Hilton Head with Mark and Marci. Life was great. He had called me on Sunday after just leaving Hilton Head. I didn't get the message until Monday.

The news of his death was inconceivable and overwhelming. The sentiments are familiar. No one can believe this happened. Not to our Charles. In the days following his funeral I have begun to fully comprehended the incalculable legacy he left us.

I sent a email to Peter Martin, Deputy Mayor of Godalming England earlier this week to thank him for the beautiful eulogy and to express my condolences to his City for our mutual loss. He immediately wrote me back and attached a copy of his eulogy. In writing back to him I struggled with the appropriate thank you. How can we attempt to write of the talents of Charles. I am not a professional writer, therefore would have written pages to capture the true spirit of my amazing friend. Then the words came, and it was simple enough. I said to Mr. Martin:

"This morning while reading your note I reflected on my relevance in the life of Charles DeVaney. He was such a busy man and involved in countless projects, organizations and events. I remembered my small role many years ago preparing to welcome the first Friends of Oglethorpe delegation. My initial thought was ‘insignificant’. I gave it a second thought and concluded it is the accumulation of what many of us might consider insignificant contributions that create indelible events. No matter what your contribution, it mattered to Charles. What a wasted life if at the end there was no story left to tell. Charles was as generous as any person I know, and even through his untimely death he continues to give."

So with that in forever etched in my heart, I will treasure the years of friendship and look forward to our community continuing to support the endeavors he gave his life to create.

Rest in peace Charles. Well done.

Billie Murphy

“Suddenly you were gone, from all the lives you left your mark upon.”

I first met Charles DeVaney in 2000 in the Canary Islands. Of course, we often meet people while on holiday and promise to stay in touch – and then, despite our best intentions, we never do. But not so with Charles. We became good friends and always made sure we met up two or three times a year, in London or Manchester or the Canaries.

The last time I was with him was in London in December 2006, just a week before Christmas. As was always the case when Charles was around, we had a great time. Tony and I were busy making plans to finally get to the States in early May to join him in New York, and for our big “family” reunion in October on Gran Canaria with the whole gang.

We didn’t find out about Charles’ passing until 10 April. Charles travelled a lot, and it was not unusual for three or four months to go by without hearing from him. We just assumed he was off on one of his trips. It pains me more than I can bear to know that we won’t see him again.

I am going to miss so many things about Charles; his humour and wit, his generosity and kindness, his calming influence, and his willingness to go the extra mile for his friends. His ability to talk with authority about so many things is almost legendary and I will miss putting the world to rights with him in the early hours over a drink or two.

I know that in time, we will be able to look back and smile at all the wonderful, fun and crazy times we’ve had with Charles. I know that’s what he would have wanted. But right now, there is a big, Charles-shaped hole in our hearts that will take a long time to heal.

It’s a rare thing to meet a true friend, but we count ourselves fortunate and privileged that Charles DeVaney enriched all our lives the way he did, even if it was for all too short a time.

Take care, dear friend. I’m sure we’ll meet again in a better place.

Carl & Tony
Manchester, UK

carlhoward@btinternet.com