- Date Of Birth: September 11, 1986
- Date Of Death: July 6, 2020
- State: Illinois
Devlin Kane Reem, age 33 of Galesburg, IL, died at 4:40 am on Monday, July 6, 2020 while in St. Francis Hospital. Devlin was born in St. Francis hospital in Peoria, IL on September 11,1986. Devlin is preceded in death by his grandparents Dale and Glennis Reem, Galesburg, Eugene Ehrenhart, Abingdon, and Gary Francois, Galesburg. Devlin is survived by his parents, Larry and Miava Reem, Galesburg, his grandmother Martha Francois, Galesburg, and Helen Ehrenhart, Cambridge, IL and his two beloved dogs, Dimey and Zeba. Devlin grew up in the Coldbrook Christian Church, Cameron, IL, where he was a baptized member.
Devlin graduated from Galesburg High School in 2005. He excelled there in the GHS marching band where he played trombone. He then attended Knox College in Galesburg. During his tenure at Knox, he studied history and creative writing. He particularly excelled at military history, he was actually a walking encyclopedia regarding any thing in that subject. One of the highlights of his Knox experience was being able to travel overseas to Greece with Professors Steven and Brenda Fineberg where he experienced the ancient history of the Greeks. Another highlight was volunteering and traveling to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina where he spent close to two weeks helping people in the hard hit 9th ward with clean up and rebuilding. And finally he was proud to be recipient of the prestigious Ida M. Tarbell Memorial prize for Investigative Journalism. Devlin grew up in Soperville where he learned the ways of the hardwood forests and creeks.
He was a true soldier of the woods. As an only child, he loved his animals, never without a kitty or a dog by his side. During one of the floodwaters that spilled out into our Henderson Creek valley, his daddy fondly recalled that he and Dev went down to the bridge where Devlin drug a surfboard and he surfed that flooded creek! We are fairly certain that he was the only person to ever do such a thing! Devlin became a collector of firearms, antique ones, in particular, and he became an expert marksman. The only animal that he ever shot was a squirrel, which he proudly took to his Grandpa Dale and Grandma Glennis, where she prepared it. After that he had no desire to kill another living thing but he loved his target practices. Devlin loved to fish. Dev loved taking road trips with his Dad in their corvette. They travelled many miles and to many different states.He had the wonderful experience of living in Colorado for two summers where he worked for the Colorado Dept. of Wildlife/Fisheries and Hatcheries Div.
He lived with his beloved aunt and uncle Jena and Lawrence Sanchez and while there he amassed a large extended family and spent much time hiking the mountains and chasing trout. Devlin worked several jobs in Galesburg, but he really found his calling when he became a personal assistant to handicapped individuals through DDS Homes. His residents at Stevens House adored him and he felt good about helping them. It takes a special person to do that kind of work and Devlin was that special one. Devlin had too many aunts, uncles, cousins and friends across this country to even begin to try to count. We hope that all will cherish their fond memories of growing up together with Devlin in the Illinois countryside and embrace the sweet shining light that he was. In closing, we are grateful for the love and support of our family and friends. Larry’s and my hearts will be broken forever, but life does go on for all of us until Jesus calls us to His eternal home. We like to believe that God needed him as a special angel, and it is His will, not ours be done.
