Katherine Devlin Couturier, 65

November 05, 2015

Katherine Devlin Couturier, 65, of Lititz, PA, passed away on Nov. 5, 2015 at Hospice & Community Care, Mount Joy following a battle with brain cancer. Born in Philadelphia, she was the daughter of the late John and Eleanor Devlin and grew up in the West Oak Lane area of Philadelphia. For nearly 39 years, Kate has been the loving wife of Lance Couturier, with whom she shared a love for travel, jokes (good ones, bad ones, and everything in between), literature, as well as social service. She was the proud mother of three children—Graham, Greg and Anna—and the sister of John Devlin, Betty Madden, Bill Devlin, Peggy Bastian, and the late Bob Devlin.
Kate and Lance and their children moved to Lititz in 1993, and Kate quickly fell in love with her adopted hometown. Her fondness for Lititz was as much about the people who welcomed and embraced her entire family as it was about the charm of the town itself: the Wagholters, a women’s group full of self-proclaimed “mischievous rascals” where she met many of her closest friends; the many wonderful neighbors that opened their hearts to her; the close-knit congregation she became a part of at Community Mennonite Church of Lancaster. Kate and Lance also served for several years on the community’s Youth Aid Panel, which assists the juvenile and district courts in seeking a better way of managing and caring for juvenile offenders.
Throughout her life Kate was a passionate advocate for persons with disabilities, and she particularly loved teaching and working with children. She was a graduate of Bishop McDevitt High School and West Chester State College – where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary and Special Education – before receiving a Master of Education degree with a focus in Special Education from Temple University. After working for the East Seals Society during college, Kate began her career as a teacher for students with multiple disabilities at the Neil Armstrong Middle School in Bucks County, PA. From that position, she transitioned to a job with the Elwyn Institute in Media, PA, working with students with physical handicaps. She began supervising undergraduate student teachers at Elwyn for Penn State University, which eventually led to a position as instructor/practicum supervisor of graduate interns in the Special Education Department at Penn State Great Valley. During this period of Kate’s career, she also taught undergraduate courses intermittently at both Gywnedd Mercy College and Cabrini College.
Upon moving to Lititz, Kate worked for one year at Manheim Township High School before transitioning to a role as an instructional support teacher for the Eastern Lancaster County School District (ELANCO). Kate spent the remaining 17 years of her career with ELANCO, moving between Brecknock, Caenarvon, and New Holland Elementary Schools, before retiring in 2012. Kate found a professional home at ELANCO, where she was given the opportunity to teach reading as well as English as a second language (ESL) in small group settings, while also coordinating intervention strategies and support for at-risk students in a variety of capacities.
Kate loved her husband and kids, her siblings, her college roommates (whom she called her “other sisters”), and her network of close friends immensely; she also loved dancing, novels, cats, and a wide variety of music. She taught her kids the words to a great many Broadway musicals, show tunes, Beatles songs, and Simon and Garfunkel classics, as well as the importance of service to the community and working to alleviate human suffering. Kate cared deeply about promoting human flourishing and touched the lives of a great many people. Those who knew Kate knew she had boundless positive energy and that this energy frequently left people smiling at the close of any conversation. This was her greatest gift, and she lifted people up with it and caused ripple effects of positivity to radiate out from everyone that she touched. She will be sorely missed.
A Viewing will take place on Monday, Nov. 9, 2015 from 9-11 AM with a Funeral Service to follow at Spacht-Snyder Family Funeral Home & Crematory, 127 S. Broad St., Lititz, PA 17543. Interment will be at 11 AM on Tuesday, Nov. 10 at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Philadelphia, PA.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Johns Hopkins Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins Office of Medical Annual Giving, PO Box 17045, Baltimore, MD 21297 (www.hopkinsmedicine.org/support), or the Niño’s Unidos Peruanos Foundation in Cusco, Peru (www.ninoshotel.com/html-eng/goede-doel/word-donateur.html).