Lorenzo Devoe
(1985 - 2010)

Lorenzo.

he was a great guy. He was always very helpful and extremely funny! i remember constantly laughing at almost everything he said! He was a brother to me, not because he spent numerous holidays with my family, but he looked out for me in such a deep way, that was something that only the love of a brother has.

May 15, 2012 i got a tattoo in memory of you bud, your initials. Logan drew it, and its forever on me. love you<3

A Catholic Mass was offered for the repose of the soul of Lorenzo DeVoe on June 21st. June 21st is the feast day of St. Aloysius, the patron saint of youth. I took a liking to Lorenzo the first time I had him in my car. I wish I could have done something to have helped him in his life. I will regret it always. I had really loved him.

Terry Ciuffreda

I have a very powerful and colorful memory of Lorenzo. I think of Lorenzo, and I think of eyeglasses, jokes, and video games.

I went to high school with him, and every time I pull up his memory, it makes me laugh. Everything from the goofy noises he made to antics in French class, I'm left with a warm feeling. He and I bonded over video games more than anything else. There was this school/church-sponsored 24 hour fasting lock-in at the high school, and we brought our video games and set them up in classrooms and played all night. One year in computer class, we were tasked with creating a website, and he and I teamed up and made one for video games.

In the college and post-college years that followed, I only kept in sporadic contact with Lorenzo--IM conversations, occasional texts, but a couple of times, the lot of us convened for a guys' night at Nick Ciuffreda's house, accompanied by dinner, drinks, board games, and video games.

Lorenzo was the one guy who could hold his own on me in Super Smash Brothers, and I'd always playfully remind him that he couldn't beat me, although, I do remember him beating Jason Murphy in a match--the reason this is important is because Lorenzo only used his feet to play--really, quite remarkable (and embarrassing for Jason!).

More than anything, I remember Lorenzo to be a fiercely smart person. Even when we were joking around (which was pretty much all the time), the rare occasions we'd stop to talk about anything serious were very memorable and poignant. Lorenzo was very sharp with people, and had an infectious smile that brought out truly good things in people.

It makes me sad that I won't be able to see him again, and my heart aches at the thought of him feeling he was unable to reach out to his friends who held him so dearly.

For me, his memory will remain strong. I don't think I'll be able to do certain things without seeing his face or hearing his ridiculous noises, and I'm okay with that.

Best wishes, my friend.

-Elias

Lorenzo was my everything. Although we only knew each other for less than a year, we were really in love with each other. We met in May briefly online and even though I didn't know him really I still sent him a message telling him I missed him. He never returned the message, but he did send me an IM in September. He had gone through a lot in those months with his ex girlfriend and he told me he would have got in touch sooner but he thought I wouldn't remember him. I told him of course I did, and we talked all night on messenger until I exchanged my number with him. The whole time we spoke, he made me smile so much that it hurt.

I told him that, and then he said he was smiling like that too. When we spoke on the phone, he told me he wanted to wait a few days before we got into anything serious because he wanted to get to know me first. I told him I wanted the same. Though after two days, we got together. He told me he had never felt this way about someone before, that he had never fallen for someone so hard and so fast. I told him the same thing. For a while everything was perfect until I began telling him how I really felt. I told him I was nervous that he wouldn't like me in person, and so he decided to visit me in October to make me feel better about myself.

He asked my mother, and she said yes. When we met for the first time in real life, I couldn't stop smiling. He was the first person in my life that had ever gone so much out of the way to make me feel better. We spent the weekend together, and when it was time to go I told him I wanted to go with him, but I couldn't. And our relationship continued over the phone with me longing to see his face again. We had a few problems, but we always fixed them so they wouldn't get too bad later. We often felt frustrated with each other, but it always ended with someone apologizing and us making up.

We had so much in common it was scary. I felt like I could go to him for anything, and pretty soon I started listening to everything he said knowing he would make things better for me and he would help me grow and mature as a person. Without him I wouldn't have been able to get my restricted license for driving. He was really taking care of me. Then February came, and I left my family to be with him. I loved him so much, I didn't mind leaving.

We had an amazing trip back up to New Jersey. We stopped at Hotels and visited places in the area. Then when we got to his apartment, the first thing I did was clean it up for him. He was never much good at house cleaning, but that was one of the reasons why I decided to go there. I wanted to take care of him like he took care of me. At first I didn't want to move in with him until he got a job, but he told me he was going into the military, even though he didn't want to.

We delayed at first so that I could find a job and be able to take care of myself, but then the weeks turned into months and he eventually stopped talking about it. I had convinced myself that this was just because I wasn't ready to take care of myself and he would tell me if we began to run low on money. Well, he never told me, and he never told me he had stopped paying the rent. We never hid things from each other, and when I found this out the day of his death it was devastating.

Despite that, I still love him and if he hadn't done what he did and came back home and confessed, I would have helped him. I wish he had told me the true extent of his financial issues, but he always kept things vague and he told me not to worry.

Lorenzo Devoe has made me grow as a person, and this experience has only made me grow more. He accepted me despite all the obstacles I brought with me, and I will never forget him. He left me, but I believe I will see him again one day.

This is the memorial I set up for Lorenzo Devoe. To sign the guest book, click on the "Sign Guest Book" button below.