, a longtime Daily News sports staffer and a veteran who devoted nearly a half-century to the newspaper business, died Sunday in . The cause was chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He was 73."He's what we call the old school newspaper guy, who grew up from a copy boy to learn how to be a newspaperman on the floor," said his longtime colleague, News cartoonist and columnist . "He was a charming man with a good sense of humor, and he had a terrific feel for sports."
Born in ., in 1935, McDevitt began working as a copy boy at The News soon after graduating from high school in 1953. A fan who later switched allegiances to the Mets, McDevitt cherished one regular assignment from his early days at the paper above all others. "What he loved most was when he used to go to with a photographer," said , his wife of 38 years.
"He would sit in the press box with the photographer and then rush back to the Daily News to have the pictures developed." McDevitt left The News in 1957 to serve in the Army, and he covered the Army baseball team for Stars and Stripes. After his discharge as a Private First Class in 1959, he worked for several papers before returning to The News in 1972. He remained there until 1999, serving the majority of that time as a sports copy editor, and he was known in later years for his Hawaiian shirts and affinity for the English language.
News colleagues remember McDevitt as always willing to battle for clarity in a story. "He was a truly great copy editor," said sports editor . "You couldn't get anything that didn't make sense by him, whether it was a young writer or an old writer." Even after retiring, McDevitt never lost his passion for sports, rooting for his beloved Giants during their Super Bowl run last year from his home in Las Vegas.
"It was incredible for him," recalled his wife. "The pictures and the videos of it, it meant everything to him." In addition to his wife, McDevitt is survived by two grown children and three grandchildren. His son, , is a firefighter in Las Vegas, and his daughter, , is an attorney in New Jersey. No memorial is scheduled, although the family plans a service in New Jersey in the near future.
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