Raymond J. Dever Jr. ’72

Raymond J. Dever Jr. ’72, of Tampa; Jan. 9. After Brown, he earned engineering master’s degrees from Caltech and Princeton and went on to have a 40-year career focused on environmental engineering that included environmental assessment, waste management, and wastewater treatment projects across the eastern U.S. He directed a regional profit center for a national engineering consulting firm for more than 10 years and served as an adjunct instructor at the University of Florida Training, Research, and Education of Environmental Occupations Center. He moved to Tampa in 1990, married, started a family, and earned a master’s in theology. He was deeply engaged with liturgical ministries, faith formation, and social justice and on Oct. 3, 2009, he was ordained a permanent Catholic Deacon for the Diocese of St. Petersburg. He served the community for 13 years. His perspective as a Catholic deacon was unique and as a father to a transgender daughter, he discovered a passion for ministry to the LGBTQ+ community and their families. He retired from engineering in 2013 and continued ministry work into his retirement with the support of the Diocese of Lexington, Ky., where he was incardinated in early 2024. He provided training and consultation on transgender issues to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and numerous Catholic dioceses and institutions. Striving to build awareness and compassion, he published articles in U.S. Catholic Magazine and America Media’s Outreach and regularly contributed to Bondings 2.0 blog with New Ways Ministry. In October 2024, he and his wife joined a group of LGBTQ+ Catholics for a private audience with His Holiness Pope Francis. He continued to advocate for greater acceptance of transgender people within the Church. He is survived by his wife, Laurie; three daughters; a son-in-law; and a sister and brother-in-law.