National and local civic leader, and our beloved mother, Nancy Wittgen Burks DeVoe passed away at her Indianapolis home on June 23, 2022. She will be dearly missed by her family as well as the many organizations she served. Born on March 28, 1924 she was the first born of Leo H. and Margaret Kraft Wittgen of Evansville, IN.

As homecoming queen of Benjamin Bosse High School (class of '42) she was in the spotlight at an early age. Midway through her college years at DePauw University in Greencastle, classes were disrupted by WWII and the Navy took over her dormitory. Like many other women of her era, she volunteered to work in the offices of the Evansville Modification Center where the P51 Aircraft was modified for use in the war effort. She eventually returned to DePauw where she began a lifetime association with the Alpha Phi Fraternity and graduated in 1946. In that same year, she married former WWII Army Ranger Gene P. Burks. His Second Battalion Ranger Company was the first to land on the historic beachhead of Pointe Du Hoc on D-Day. He would later be awarded the Army Cross, the Army's highest honor for bravery in action. He remains to this day the highest decorated graduate of Wabash College. Together they raised four children before his untimely death in 1959. After Gene's death, Nancy took over as President of Burks Transfer and General Cartage. During that time, she also briefly served as Chairman of the Contract Carrier Division of the Indiana Motor Truck Association. IN 1962 she married Milton E. DeVoe Jr. a WWII Navy veteran who served on the USS Suwannee and survived the first two kamikaze attacks of WWII. He was the Managing Partner of Geo. S. Olive, a highly respected regional accounting ?rm. The marriage increased her family management responsibilities to seven children. Milt was a constant companion and soulmate until his death in 1990. Nancy's local leadership positions encompassed numerous groups including Junior League of Evansville Board Member, Publicity Chairman and Nominating Chairman for the University of Evansville Theater Society Secretary, Evansville Philharmonic Guild President and Honorary Member, and the Evansville Orchestra Corporation Board Member and Vice President. Nancy was also a Trustee for the Evansville Museum of Arts and Science as well as serving on the Membership, Personnel and Finance and Executive Committees. An avid supporter of the Arts, Nancy was a Director for Indiana Advocates/Citizens for the Arts and was awarded the Evansville Mayor's Arts Award in 1997. Nancy's national leadership experiences included various positions over twenty-five years with the Alpha Phi International Fraternity including District Governor, Vice President of Extension, International President and Chairman of the Board of Trustees. She was also Chairman of the Alpha Phi Foundation. She worked closely with the National Panhellenic Conference as a delegate and advisor for schools in Indiana and Western Kentucky.

Nancy was preceded in death by her parents Leo and Margaret Wittgen as well as husbands Gene Burks and Milton DeVoe and daughter Cynthia.

She is survived by her sister, Susie Fox as well as children Tim, Mike, Dan, Rebecca, Kevin and Molly, six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Visitation will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, June 28, 2022, followed by a Mass of Christian burial at St. Mary's Church 613 Cherry St. Evansville. Burial Saint Joseph Catholic Cemetery. Published in Courier Press on June 25, 2022