JANET ANN DEVAULT
1949-2017
Janet Ann DeVault, 68, passed away peacefully on May 6, 2017 in Houston, Texas after a protracted battle with cancer with her two sons Bryan and Chris and their wives Ariëtte and Chelsey at her side. Born on April 21, 1949 in Lubbock, Texas to Ruth and Buddy Miller, her childhood featured frequent moves to cities as varied as Jackson, Mississippi, Roswell, New Mexico, Caracas, Venezuela, and finally Midland, Texas, where she graduated from Midland Lee High School in 1967, and was the editor of the school’s newspaper.
After receiving a degree in History from the University of Texas at Arlington, she joined her family in the oil business in West Texas, where she jointly managed Miller family companies with her father and her younger brother A. Lee Miller and served on the Board of Directors of two publicly-traded oil and geophysical companies. She navigated the turbulent 1970s boom years and the devastating bust that followed with innate grace, common sense, and exceptional organizational talent. She continued her career in the oil industry as the Chief Financial Officer of Vecta Oil and Gas, a small independent oil and gas company, from 2013 until her death.
Jan was deeply fascinated by genealogy from an early age. She spent many hours at genealogical libraries learning about her family’s history and ancestors. These efforts were rewarded by her establishment of a family lineage back to the ninth-century Emperor Charlemagne. As a result, she was admitted to life membership in the Order of the Crown of Charlemagne in the United States of America, the Order of the Merovingian Dynasty, and the Baronial Order of Magna Charta. Her discovery of early Texas and Revolutionary War ancestors led to membership in both the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. She devoted many years of service to the latter group, becoming President of the San Jacinto Chapter from 1997 to 1999. She also served on the DRT’s Board of Managers at the Alamo.
A fifth-generation Texan, Jan’s great passion was historic preservation and, born on San Jacinto Day, she seems to have fought for the San Jacinto Battleground all her life. She was appointed by then-governor George W. Bush to the San Jacinto Historical Advisory Board in 1999, and she co-founded with Jeff Dunn the San Jacinto Battleground Conservancy, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving, reclaiming, and restoring the San Jacinto Battleground and building greater public awareness and scholarship about the Battle of San Jacinto. She was instrumental in starting the annual San Jacinto Symposium seventeen years ago. Her long service in the cause of historic preservation included a long stint as President of the San Jacinto Battleground Conservancy from 2003 until 2016 and she authored The Ladies and the Battlefield about early Battleground preservation efforts led by Texas women. A few days before she passed away, she participated in a meeting about acquiring the site for the Battleground where General Almonte and the Mexican Army surrendered.
The many honors she received for her work at San Jacinto include the San Jacinto Award, the San Jacinto Descendants’ highest honor, as well as the Hero of San Jacinto prize from the San Jacinto Symposium.
Together with her husband John, she was also active in many wine and food societies and served in numerous roles at the Houston Club for many years.
Jan was preceded in death by her husband John DeVault, who passed away in August 2016. She is survived by her son Bryan DeVault and his wife Ariëtte Kerckhoff and their children Nicholas and Mark of the Woodlands; her son Chris and wife Chelsey King and their children Madeline, Jacqueline, Alexander, and Vivienne of Katy. She is also survived by her mother Ruth Miller, brother A. Lee Miller, and sister Linda Kay Brahaney of Midland; and nephews Scott and Jeff Monette and their wives Mirta Leon and Natasha Flores and children Tomas, Emily, Sophia, and Connor, also of Katy. “Mere-mere” to her six grandchildren took great pride in all their accomplishments and spent two glorious weeks in Ravenna, Rome, Paris, and the Netherlands with grandchildren Nicholas, Madeline, and Jacqueline in the Summer of 2016.
Her indefatigable efforts to make lasting improvements to the things that were important to her were animated by a keen intelligence, gentle sense of humor, and the genuine kindness and compassion she showed the people she worked with and loved. She will be greatly missed.
Jan was immensely grateful for the supportive care, compassion, and concern of her physicians and the staff of MD Anderson. A memorial service will be held Thursday, May 18th at 11:00 am at Bethany Christian Church, 3223 Westheimer, in Houston, where she was a member of the congregation. Those wishing to commemorate Jan’s life are encouraged to donate to the San Jacinto Battleground Conservancy, PO Box 940536, Houston TX 77094.