She had lived through times that included the end of World War I, the roaring twenties, the great depression, the discovery of the penicillin antibiotic and polio vaccine, World War II, the advent of TV, the turbulent 60’s, a man on the moon, the turning of a century, and a world-wide pandemic. She just kept and going until her tired body and mind said enough, whereby she laid to eternal rest.
Betty was born in 1918 at Detroit’s Harper hospital to Arthur and Edna Janke, who were descendants of German immigrants. Her childhood home was on Pennsylvania St. on Detroit’s east side, which made for an easy commute to downtown Detroit for her father who worked as a civil engineer.
As a young child she one day found a beat-up tennis racket in a neighbor’s garbage, and she claimed it as if it were a magic wand. There must have been some magic in it because it was to be the start of a life-long passion for tennis that would eventually take her all about Michigan’s lower peninsula, including to the clay courts of Castle Park near Holland, to the hard courts at Point Nipigon near Cheboygan, to the variety of courts in the Detroit Metropolitan area, and to everywhere in between. But to start, she had to learn how to hit the ball with her newfound prize. She acquired a very-used tennis ball and began practicing her ground strokes while using the back of her family’s garage as a backboard. The garage wall was hardly an ideal hitting partner and a shot that hit a corner of the lap-strake garage wall would often send the ball down the alley with Betty (or her dog Yank) chasing in pursuit.
Betty graduated to neighborhood tennis courts as she grew. By the time she graduated from Detroit’s Southeastern High School she was one of the best female players in the region. And she was soon to enjoy the company of Edward Devine Jr., an Indian village resident who became a Detroit City Junior Champion in tennis. After high school graduation she enrolled at Wayne University, and earned a bachelor’s degree in art history with a minor in dietary science. While at the university she was a member of the university’s women’s tennis team, won Miss Wayne U honors, and joined the Xi Omicron social sorority, where she made friendships that were to last a lifetime.
By this time World War II was approaching, and she and Edward were married in 1942. Edward joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as an agent, which took them to Washington D.C. and a majority of their war years in Little Rock, Arkansas. After the war they returned to Detroit, where Edward joined his father’s law firm of Devine, Kent, and Devine and the couple purchased a house on Everts St. on Detroit’s east side.
In 1948 Betty gave birth to son Peter and three years later to son Matthew. After Matthew’s birth the couple moved into a home on Notre Dame St. in Grosse Pointe. Although her two young children demanded nearly all of her time, she continued to play tennis when she could, playing principally at the Neighborhood Club courts and at the Indian Village Tennis Club. As her sons grew and entered school she had a little more time to play between being cook, chauffer, cub scouts den mother, PTA liaison, referee (of her sons’ impromptu wrestling matches), coach, and even official scorer at her sons’ baseball games. She was once ejected from a Babe Ruth league baseball game for giving the umpire her opinion
of his calls, but the ejection was rescinded when husband Edward convinced the ump that the official scorer was not ejectable. She also taught her sons to play tennis and the family of four would hit the courts for doubles matches.
Life throws challenges to its families, and in 1972 she and Edward were divorced. She subsequently married Robert Dunwoodie (another attorney), and they remained together until his death in 1990. All that time she continued to play tennis at places including the Country Club of Detroit, Lochmoor Country Club, the Wimbledon Racquet Club, or wherever tennis courts could be found. While not playing tennis, she volunteered at Cottage Hospital, played bridge with friends, joined the Nomads Travel Club, and would play rounds of golf which she would not-so-affectionately call “that horrible game.”
As she approached 90 years of age she continued to play the game she loved, even though it became difficult to arrange matches per the words of George Burns (“there are no women my age”). In her final years as an athlete she would hit balls twice a week with Joe Shaheen, a local tennis pro. “Move your feet” she could hear Joe tell her repeatedly. At 95 she moved them better than most.
She finally retired from the game after her 95th birthday when she suffered a fractured wrist. She spent her remaining years at The Rivers and then Lakeshore Senior Living, and Sunrise Senior Living was her last and too brief a stop.
Betty was preceded in death by her brothers Kenneth Janke and Robert Janke. She is survived by her son Peter R. Devine (Janice), by her son Matthew D. Devine (Karen), by her grandchildren Rebecca L. Tanguay (Daniel) and P. Jeremy Devine, by great grandchildren Patrick E. Tanguay and Noah P. Tanguay, and by several nieces and nephews.
Interment will be in Detroit’s Elmwood Cemetery.
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