John F. DeVivo, age 78, passed away peacefully on June 21st, 2022 surrounded by family. Born on May 11, 1944 at the Pocono Medical Center in East Stroudsburg, PA, he was the loving husband of Denise (France) DeVivo and their three wonderful children: son John, Jr., wife Robin (Seip), son James and wife Holly (Frech), daughter Brandi Lyn DeVivo and husband William Black. In addition, he had two granddaughters; Anna DeVivo and her partner Dustin Burch, and Grace DeVivo and her partner Drew Marasco, and six great grand-children: Hayden, Paisley and Brantley Marasco, and Harper, Chloe and Connor Burch. He was predeceased in death by his mother Mary (Pennise) DeVivo in 1954 and father Arthur (Caruso) DeVivo in 1990. John spent his early childhood in Stroudsburg. Later his family moved to East Stroudsburg where John graduated in 1962, excelling academically and in music.
John grew up in a large family of self-employed men: barbers, tailors, plumbers, shoemakers and clothiers to name a few. Only one of them, an older cousin, went to college to become a research chemist. John spent much of his childhood listening to those men discuss their businesses and the challenges they faced every day. So, it was only natural that he developed a strong interest and urge to start his own company someday.
It was the year after his mother’s death, and at the age of ten, that he decided to open a Kool-Aid stand in front of his grandfather’s tailor shop in Stroudsburg. His appeal as a very young boy selling a cold drink for 5 cents was successful and he quickly ran out of Kool-Aid.
A couple of years later at the age of 12 John began to shine shoes in front of his Dad’s barbershop in East Stroudsburg. At 15 cents a shine, he had enough money to purchase a nickel co*ke next door a Kresge’s Drug Store and ten cents extra for spending money and supplies.
It was fortunate that John “grew up” in his dad’s barbershop, where he met so many men who influenced his future. A neighbor, Myron Ehrlich, in spite of his masters degree in chemistry, detoured his career to help his father run a butcher shop and then loaned John all his college chemistry books because he knew of John’s interest, And a family friend, Royal Howell, who frequently took John into New York City on the train and introduced him to stamp collecting. And Harold Croasdale, a retired Chemical Engineer, who volunteered his time to teach 11th and 12th grade students after school about Quantitative Analysis Techniques in Chemistry. And Dean McGarry, Academic Dean at East Stroudsburg University, who allowed John to audit Chemistry courses during summer session while he was still in High School. And Olaf Pedersen, A Vice-President/owner of Patterson-Kelley Co. who set up John’s summer internship and directed him to John J. Fischer’s division. All these men, and so many more, always kept in contact with John’s career while getting their haircut. And none of them ever asked for anything in return…not even a “thank you”.
Fulfilling his and his father’s dream, John went on to college to study Chemical Engineering which led to a 46 year career in the chemical process equipment industry. Throughout his career, he held technical, marketing, sales and executive positions with process equipment manufacturers who were, and still are, leaders in their field, serving the Pharmaceutical, Food, Cosmetic and Chemical industries.
During college, John interned in the engineering department of Patterson-Kelley Co. for two summers, joined them permanently right after graduating from college and became the last protege of the world renown John J. Fischer. A few years later he joined a process equipment manufacturer’s sales office in Wilmington, DE where he honed his sales skills. Prior to forming his own company, Process Technology Associates, Inc. in 1990, he was Vice-President, Sales & Marketing for Gemco, a New Jersey powder mixer and vacuum dryer equipment manufacturer. After selling Process Technology Associates, Inc. in 1998, John was recruited to re-join Patterson-Kelley Company, the one-time leader in powder mixing equipment, as Director of both its Process Equipment Division and its Pocono Fabricators Division to improve their lagging profitability. Within a year, their business became profitable again and they returned to dominance in their industry.
In 2004, at the age of 60, John retired from Patterson-Kelly Co. and reactivated his business development company, Devcar, Inc. where he specialized in improving revenues for some of the nearly 1,000 equipment manufacturers targeting the world-wide Pharmaceutical market.
Throughout his industrial career, John was a frequent lecturer at major industrial trade shows, professional society meetings and at the Center for Professional Advancement in East Brunswick, NJ. During his career he developed twelve (12) unique powder processing devices and is the author of The Powder Mixer Handbook. Powders In Our Daily Lives, It’s All About Marketing, a contributing author in the Handbook of Biochemical and Fermentation Engineering and many other personal books including his own story The Turning Point. Selected to “Who’s Who in American Business”, John was instrumental with technology transfers between companies and chemical plant expansions on both a domestic and international basis. He was also a member of the International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE) and the Process Equipment Manufacturers Association (PEMA).
In 1978, John and his wife, Denise, while pursuing their careers in industry and education, decided to purchase a portion of a 250 acre farm along a majestic stream, with an 1860 farm house, barn, large garage and separate workshop with equipment storage building. It is here they fulfilled their dream to learn about pre-electricity America and the lifestyle of their ancestors. After learning about the simpler technologies, they developed skills to become self-reliant and capable of surviving natural and man-made disasters. They shared this property, not only with family, but also with friends and acquaintances by hosting numerous events, parties and picnics. John especially enjoyed eating the apples, pears and berries growing on the property and cooling off on hot summer days in his stream.
And then while in his early 70’s, John and his wife helped one of their granddaughters finance the purchase of a ski rental shop near Camelback Ski Resort. John stayed involved in the operations of the business for four years by mentoring his granddaughter, exposing her to marketing, merchandising, accounting and all the important aspects of operating a small business.
A U.S. Army, Vietnam era veteran, John was an active adult in the Boy Scouts of America, Little League and Teener League baseball, the United Way and Lutheran Welfare Service of N.E. PA. He was also the first president of the Stroudsburg Environmental Review Board, president of the Stroudsburg Music Parents Association, Church Council President for 9 years where he administered a new church building campaign. In addition, he was a former vice chairman of the East Stroudsburg University Foundation and president of the East Stroudsburg School District Halls & Walls of Fame Foundation.
From a very early age, music was very important to John. He eventually became proficient playing both the clarinet and saxophone on a district, regional and state level studying under Clement Weidemyer and Robert Zellner. John was the first 9th grader from the East Stroudsburg School District to audition and perform at a District Band Festival. He also performed with various groups at local resorts during college, assorted pit orchestras in local musicals and with the Trinity Centennial Band for three seasons during retirement,
John thoroughly enjoyed spending time with his family and entertaining friends. He especially enjoyed all types of musical events involving his musically talented children and learning about and practicing basic country skills of self-reliance which he recorded in his book Be Prepared.
John is best remembered as a person who always put family first. A very private person with a variety of interests: from music & art to gardening; from alternative medicine to designing chemical process equipment & house additions; from solar energy to spiritual growth; from amateur rocketry to football; from developing new business ideas to helping others.
Visitation for family and friends will be held on Monday, June 27, from 5:00 to 7:00PM (with a time of sharing at 7:00PM) at the William H. Clark Funeral Home, 1003 Main Street, Stroudsburg. The funeral service will take place on Tuesday, June 28, at 10:00AM at Shawnee Presbyterian Church, Shawnee Church Road, Shawnee-on-Delaware with Rev. Brian Derrer officiating. Burial will follow at St. Vincent dePaul Cemetery in Portland, PA.
It is requested that any memorial donations be given to the East Stroudsburg Salvation Army, P.O. Box 178., E. Stroudsburg, PA, 18301, or Christ Hamilton United Lutheran Church, 419 Bossardsville Road, Stroudsburg, PA 18360.
Posted online on June 23, 2022
Published in Pocono Record
