George Victor Van Deventer died November 18, 2023, at his daughter’s CT home, with his daughter Susan at his side.

Born September 8, 1935, in Newark, N.J., he was the son of George W. and Bertha E. (Hulsman) Van Deventer. After a brief first marriage, he married Arlene H. Carhart on Feb. 24, 1965, at the Westminster Presbyterian Church of Jersey City, N.J.

Following 18 years as a fuel truck driver for Gulf Oil Corp., George, with Arlene and daughter Susan, was part of the “back to the land” movement of the 1970s. Moving to Washington, Maine in 1973, he restored an 1862 “fixer upper” into what would become Snow Drift Farm, a dairy operation of 120 cattle. George was recognized in 1978 as an Outstanding Conservationist for his conservation practices. He served as chairman of the Washington Town Planning Commission, and was honored in 1994 for Dedicated Volunteerism by the Community of Washington, Maine. George was selected in 1996 as one of the representatives from Maine to serve as a torch bearer in the Olympic Torch Relay. After nearly 2 decades of dairy farming, George sold the cows, operating a storage business and selling hay; with Arlene, he converted the farm into Snow Drift Bed & Breakfast which they ran for 11 years until they retired to Bristol, Maine in a house he designed. He dedicated much of his time there to reading and writing poetry in his studio and tending expansive flower gardens. 

Singing choral music was central to George’s life. His enjoyment of music is rooted in his early years when he sang in church choirs. George, drafted into the Army in 1959, also sang with Army choirs, and was called upon as a tenor soloist for special occasions. Decades later, his wife Arlene, a church organist, would also call upon George to sing solos. Along with his wife Arlene, he sang with the DownEast Singers and Sheepscot Valley Chorus, both in Maine. In 2004, he was invited to sing at two John Clare Festivals in England: Isle of Jersey and the annual Festival in Clare’s home village, Helpston. To support his travel, George was awarded The St. Botolph Club Foundation (Boston, MA) Grant-in-Aid for 2004. In 2007, three of George’s poems, set to music by Terence Deadman in Hove, England, were performed at the annual music festival (2008) in Brighton. A choral arrangement of one of his poems, I am singing, was also performed in Maine and NJ.

George had a deep, and evolving, relationship with religion. Raised Presbyterian, George, in his youth, was active in Calvary Presbyterian in Newark NJ, and impressively, he never missed a Sunday for 15 years (and has the Sunday School pins to prove it). While in the Army, he remained active in Bible study groups, and after his active duty in the Army, George took leave from work to attend The Navigators, a faith ministry established in the 1930s. George lived for 5 months at the Glen Eyrie Retreat Center in Colorado Springs (CO), spending his time studying scriptures and doing outreach. Back in New Jersey, while working full-time for Gulf Oil Corp., George was invited to do youth outreach for Broadway Presbyterian Church (NYC), in exchange for housing. George played basketball and led Bible study with black and white boys in the neighborhood.

A voracious reader, George questioned his (previously) unwavering faith. He situated religion within the context of history, and expanded his spiritual readings beyond the Bible to include the Koran and the Torah, along with countless secular authors and poets, from Ronald Blythe to Langston Hughes, from Czeslaw Milosz to his favorite, John Clare. In the 1960s, George took classes at NYU and New School for Social Research. Thirty years later, he enrolled at University of Maine at Augusta and completed all but 3 courses toward his associate degree. Twenty-five years later, at the age of 80, he re-enrolled with the aim of finishing, but the early stages of cognitive decline undermined his ability to complete the degree. He remained, as he self-identified, an “undocumented intellectual.” 

Writing poetry since 1963, Van Deventer’s work has been published in several journals in Maine and throughout the country, including The Christian Century (1982); Puckerbrush Review (1999); Saranac Review (SUNY-Plattsburgh, 2007). Van Deventer served as Executive Director of the Live Poets Society (Maine) from 1990-1997, organizing poetry events that were like a variety show, drawing record numbers in attendance. During this time, George worked extensively in elementary schools developing poetry workshops for children, reaching 1030 children in Maine’s midcoast schools in 1997.

Van Deventer served as editor of Off the Coast (2001-2007), the Journal of the Live Poets Society. In 2008, George was recognized by Governor John Baldacci for his work in promoting poetry in Maine. In 2006, Van Deventer was invited to serve as the Master of Ceremonies for the UNICEF-NGO Voices for Peace Across the Globe, in New York City.

Pre-deceased by his wife of 43 years, George is survived by his daughter, Susan; granddaughter, Mia; his brother, David; his nephews, Dave and Glen; and his daughter, Deborah Koert, and grandchildren Danielle, Jessica, and Jonathan.

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