The passing of Coach John DeVore has left a void in the coaching of baseball. Coach DeVore passed away Jan. 12 after an extended illness. John was 69 years old. John was the son of the late Fred and Lala DeVore of Crabapple, Ga.

He is survived by his wife of 46 years, Fayron Savelle DeVore; his son, Dusty DeVore; his granddaughter, Taylor DeVore; three sisters, Juanita Matthews of Blanchard, La., Ann Austin of Alpharetta, Ga., Sarah and Ralph Rucker of Alpharetta; and a number of close nieces and nephews.

John attended West Ga. College (now the University of West Georgia) in 1962-65, where he pitched for the West Georgia Braves. He was All-American in 1964 and 1965. He later became one of the first inductees into the West Ga. Hall of Fame and later inducted into the Georgia High School Hall of Fame.

John signed with the Mets Class A after college but, as he said, “I didn’t throw hard, but I threw strikes. You know how the pros are; they like guys who throw hard.” He was released due to injury but went on to teach and coach in DeKalb County for 30 years, where he became one of the winningest coaches to date with a 377-232 record. He coached at Southwest DeKalb until 1980 and then went to Shamrock High School, where he was named their Teacher of the Year. He retired in 1996. At his retirement, DeKalb County honored him with the naming of the John DeVore Field at Druid Hills Middle School, then Shamrock High School.

Coach DeVore was an instructor at the Georgia Tech Pitcher Catcher camp for 20 years. He was renowned for building baseball fields. He built SWD’s first baseball field and made Shamrock’s facility the county’s best. He once stated, “A field can even help a team, because kids seem to play better and take more pride when playing on a good field.”

Coach Devore’s players knew that he was their friend, but not their buddy, that he would do what he could to help. He never lacked respect, not only from players, but from other coaches as well.

He loved coaching, but his love of teaching and helping kids was his first priority. He has had over a hundred of his players go to college or the pros, not counting kids from other schools that he helped.

On Jan. 12, 2013, John DeVore was in the bottom of the ninth and won the ultimate game.

In lieu of flowers donations may be made to The University of West GA Baseball program or the GA Dugout Club.

Northside Chapel Funeral Directors and Crematory, Roswell.