Sheila Devore April 26, 1920 – December 30, 2019
Sheila Devore, one of Aspen’s early “bon vivants,” died peacefully in Glenwood Springs, December 30, 2019 at the age of 99. She had hardly been sick a day in her life and with her one good eye, enjoyed reading up until the end. Sheila Bowesbarry was born of Irish parents in Manchester, UK on April 26, 1920. As a young woman she joined the British Women’ s Auxiliary Air Corps , WAAF, during WW II. Sheila was an accomplished swimmer and during lulls in the War competed in swim races against other women soldiers. Towards the end of the war, while still stationed in North Africa, she met her American husband, Major Nicholas Devore, Jr. at one of the swim meets. They were soon married in Paris, where they lived a Bohemian lifestyle, and where their son, Nicholas DeVore, Ill, was born in 1949.
After a separation, Sheila moved to New Orleans, continuing an arty existence. A friend there convinced her to move to the small, relatively unknown town of ‘Aspen,’ in the mid S0’s to help him open a bookstore. With her son, Nicholas, she remained in Aspen for almost 40 years, watching and helping it grow and prosper into the resort town we know today. She and her son lived in the Dean Billings compound of earth rammed houses at the base of Aspen Mountain where her family still lives in new cluster of homes. In Aspen, Sheila was employed by the likes of Ed Smart, Bill Stirling and Leon Uris. She was instrumental in editing some of Mr. Uris’s most classic books, sometimes with her extremely elegant old world script. Sheila had a passion for traveling to diverse locations throughout the world and was an enthusiastic raconteur. She was forever sassy and known for her wit and laughter.
As more of her friends moved away or died, Sheila moved to Glenwood Springs and made new friends. She enjoyed her new life there and her view overlooking the Amtrak Station and the Colorado River. Her son, Nicholas Devore, who died in the spring of 2005, was a co- founder of the Photographers Aspen, and was a renowned National Geographic photographer. Sheila is survived by her grand children: Nicholas Stirling Devore IV and Katrina Jacqueline Devore, their mother Karinjo Devore and long time friend, Bill Stirling. A small get together in celebration of Sheila’ s colorful life is planned at the family home in Aspen, sometime later this month.
