By Michelle Han
As they mourn the loss of a close friend and devoted civic leader, Forest Hills residents will remember Joseph DeVoy, who died Jan. 7 at age 74, as a staunch fighter for everything the Forest Hills community cared for.
DeVoy was the first chairman of Community Board 6 and worked closely with Borough President Claire Shulman when she served as director of community boards in 1972.
Active in the Boy Scouts and American Legion and a member of Our Lady of Mercy Church, he championed causes ranging from fights for public schools and libraries to the Forest Hills Volunteer Ambulance Corps, to protecting residential neighborhoods from the onslaught of vast commercial development.
DeVoy was the founding president of the Forest Hills Community and Civic Association now headed by Barbara Stuchinski, who is working to have a small playground at the edge of Forest Park near DeVoy
