James E. Devitt
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James E. Devitt (1920 – May 1994) was an American lawyer and insurance executive who served as president of the
Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York The Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York (also known as Mutual of New York or MONY) was the oldest continuous writer of insurance policies in the United States. Incorporated in 1842, it was headquartered at 1740 Broadway, before becoming a wh ...
.


Early life

He was a son of Louis James Devitt (1892–1985) and Nora Gertrude ( Cavanaugh) Devitt (1894–1982). Among his siblings was brother William Louis Devitt, also a soldier and lawyer, who wrote ''Shavetail: The Odyssey of an Infantry Lieutenant in World War II.'' Devitt graduated from the University of Minnesota before attending
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...
, from where he graduated in 1949. During World War II, he served as a major in the U.S. Army.


Career

After practicing law in
St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center o ...
for two years, he began a career in insurance with the
Northwestern National Life Insurance Company The ING Group ( nl, ING Groep) is a Dutch multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Amsterdam. Its primary businesses are retail banking, direct banking, commercial banking, investment banking, wholesale bankin ...
in 1951. In 1956, Devitt joined
Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York The Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York (also known as Mutual of New York or MONY) was the oldest continuous writer of insurance policies in the United States. Incorporated in 1842, it was headquartered at 1740 Broadway, before becoming a wh ...
as director of group operations, becoming senior vice president in 1969 and executive vice president in 1972. In 1976, he was elected president of Mutual Life, which at the time was the nation's 19th largest life insurance company. He became chairman in 1978 before he retired in 1983 after 26 years with MONY.


Personal life

Devitt died of complications from
Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...
on May, 1994 at Manatee Memorial Hospital in
Bradenton, Florida Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698. History Late 18th and early 19th centuries ...
. He lived in
Holmes Beach, Florida Holmes Beach is a city on Anna Maria Island in Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 3,010, down from 3,836 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice, Florida Metropolitan S ...
and was survived by his widow, Judith.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devitt, James E. 1920 births 1994 deaths University of Minnesota alumni Harvard Law School alumni 20th-century American businesspeople American chief executives of financial services companies