May 14, 2015, wife of the late Elton P.; dear mother of Gemma DeVinney (Paul Boymel) and Patricia DeVinney (Andrew Goldstein); grandmother
of Lee DeVinney-Boymel, Bennett Goldstein and Risa DeVinney; sister of Theodore Hall. No prior visitation.
Services private. The family wishes to thank the staff at Tennyson Court and Elderwood at Amherst for their compassionate
care. www.denglerrobertspernafuneral.com
Lois Hall DeVinney, who was active in local community organizations, died Friday of
complications from dementia at Elderwood at Amherst, Amherst. She was 87.
She was born in Ithaca, New York, graduated from Bennett High School and attended
Syracuse University. She worked for a decade as a medical transcriber at Framingham
Union Hospital, Framingham, Massachusetts.
Mrs. DeVinney returned to western New York in 1990 after a forty year absence, with
her husband Elton Paul DeVinney, an early employee of IBM, who passed away in
1993. She was the daughter of Randolph F. Hall, a direct descendant of Lyman Hall, a
signer of the Declaration of the Declaration of Independence. Randolph Hall was
inducted into the Niagara Frontier Aviation and Space Hall of Fame in 1992 for his
many contributions as an aviation pioneer including serving as project engineer of the
top-secret first American jet aircraft, the Bell P-59 Airacomet. Mrs. DeVinney took much
pride in the fact that her first airplane ride was in 1931 at the age of 3 in her father's
airplane, a Cunningham-Hall PT-6. Another plane designed by Mr. Hall, the
Cunningham-Hall GA-36 was restored in the 1990s and is displayed in the Niagara
Aerospace Museum in Niagara Falls.
She pursued her interest in aviation history by serving on the Board of Directors of the
Niagara Frontier Aviation and Space Hall of Fame starting in 1995. She was also an
active member of the Aero Club of Buffalo. Mrs. DeVinney also served on the Board of
Directors of the Bennett High School Alumni Association for several years and she
performed volunteer work at Hospice Buffalo.
She is survived by two daughters, Gemma and Patty DeVinney; a brother, Theodore A.
Hall; and three grandchildren.
A private graveside funeral will be held at Forest Lawn cemetery.
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