Mother Sue Alice Devereaux was born February 5, 1937 in Rich Square, North Carolina to the late Luberta (Gorham) Devereaux-Simms and James Devereaux. She departed this life, at age 88, on January 3, 2026 in Freehold, NJ.

Mother Devereaux attended school in North Carolina and joined family in the Washington, DC Area to live and work. Here she met Matthew Pickett, Sr and gave birth to two children, Matthew Jr. and Suzette; both of whom preceded her in death. In addition to her children and parents, Sue is preceded in death by her only sibling; her beloved brother Robert DeBreaux and her sister-cousin, Melmar Johnson.

She later moved to New Jersey to live with her beloved Aunt Annie Mae Gorham. It is through this relationship where she developed her love for cooking. While working at her aunt’s restaurant, Sue honed her cooking skills and was known for her famous short ribs, yams and cabbage dinners.

Sue worked for the Department of Human Services in both New ork and New Jersey as an Unit Director and retired after more than 30 years of service. She maintained lifelong friendships with many of her colleagues and direct reports.

From childhood, Sue always attended church. In New Jersey, she and her family joined and became members of Zion Hill Baptist Church in Newark, NJ. Seeking to increase her faith and understanding of scriptures, she took classes for a few years at a local bible college. After moving to Monroe Township, she joined in fellowship at Community Refuge Church. She was a devoted member for over 20 years and served as Mother of her church. She loved attending church service, Sunday School and participating on the prayer line. Mother Devereaux was known for her abundant generosity by those who knew her. She was always giving to the less fortunate and especially loved giving to her church.

Although Mother Devereaux was committed to her job, she had several opportunities to travel internationally with friends. Mother Devereaux didn’t have many hobbies but she loved watching religious teaching and gospel videos. She also collected many unique beautiful Angel statues during her lifetime. She was quite the fashionista and loved to dress up and look her “very best”, especially going to church.

She is survived by her only grand-child, Angelique Henderson (Gerard), and great grand-daughter, Jordan. She also leaves to mourn her loving niece and nephew, Wanda DeBreaux and Robert DeBreaux; her adoring cousins, Delores Johnson (Ralph) and Gladys Whitten (Gene); and her extended family – her special God-daughter, Sandra Cammororto; and her Spiritual daughters Sister Lillian Woolfolk and Evangelist Yvonne Davis-Spady; her pastor and wife, Bishop and First Lady Rubin and the entire loving Community Refuge Church family.

 

In Our Hearts

We thought of you today, but that is nothing new.

We thought about you yesterday, and days before that too.

We think of you in silence. We often speak your name.

Now all we have are memories, and your picture in a frame.

Your memory is our keepsake, with which we’ll never part.

God has you in his keeping. We have you in our heart.

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