Excerpt from: https://womxnskatehistory.ca/2023/09/18/deirdre-devine/ (Sept. 2023 – Natalie Porter)
Deirdre “Dee Dee” Devine was a freestyle skater in the 1980s who lived in Los Angeles as well as Arizona. According to her friend, legendary street skater Anita Tessensohn, Deirdre was sponsored by Airwalk and Powell, as they were on the same team together.
When I first started looking into Dee Dee, without knowing her full name I had confused her with the 1970s ripping pool skater named Brenda Devine, who was also sponsored by Powell and went pro for them! Obviously, the women were skating in different eras, but it would be so cool if there was some distant relation?
Anita and Dee Dee often hung out, going to skate contests and street spots together, along with another girl named Heather who worked at Alva and married a skate shop owner in Florida. When Anita was filming the Public Domain (1988) video, which happened over the course of a day at some banks in Gardena, CA, Anita said, “My friend Dee Dee Devine was there with me. She’s passed away; hearing her laugh in the video always fills my heart!”
There’s footage of Dee Dee competing in July 1985 in Freestyle at Vancouver’s NSA “Border Wars” contest. Her routine is accompanied by “Love Cats” by The Cure. Unfortunately, because she was competing against the Amateur guys her placing is unknown, but her friend April Hoffman is noted as placing 5th overall.
… this is only about 1/2 the tribute, visit womxnskatehistory.ca for the complete story!
dee dee devine was so full of life that when she walked into a room, she captured the soul of everyone. She was the most gracious and loving woman that I have ever known. unfortunately, dee dee suffered from a severe case of plantar fasciitis where tumors grew throughout her muscles and survived 14 surgeries on her feet and she subsequently suffered from pain medication issues to the extent that her heart stopped while having breakfast in her bedroom in her parent’s house in Culver city. I was with dee dee devine after I met her in 1988 at my cousin Lori Weber’s wedding in mammoth mtn. Lori and Dee Dee were best friends.
Dee Dee Devine was the best person I have ever known in my 60 years.
zhawenimishinaam
I Woke up this morning thinking of Miss Dee Dee. She was my roomate at Judson Boarding schiool in Scotsdale , Az. We were fast friends, and she was a delight. I think of her sassy smile quite often, and miss her so very much.
Toni Torrence