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Lancaster Eagle-Gazette
Local father blends
biological, adoptive, and foster children into one family
Spencer Remoquillo,
June 15, 2018
LIBERTY TOWNSHIP — It's not about what you can do, it's about what you
are willing to do.
That's Eric DeVoe's take on being a father and opening his home to
about 25 children in need of a home since 2012. Eric, 43 and his wife,
Teri, have worked with Fairfield County Job and Family Services to
offer respite and foster care to children of all ages for the last six
years.
The DeVoes were married in 2000, not realizing then how their lives
years later would be dedicated to helping children. Eric first became a
father at 29, and despite raising many children since, he vividly
remembers that day and how he felt.
"It was scary and awesome at the same time," Eric said. "I remember
that pretty clear. It was that sense of real responsibility while at
the same time amazement of falling in love with somebody you just met
... That was a life-changing experience. It was for each of them, but
the first one was a shock to the system."
Thursday, June 15, 2018, at the family's home in Liberty Township. Also
pictured are DeVoe's children Thomy Kness, left, and Paige DeVoe.
(Photo: Matthew Berry/Eagle-Gazette)
The DeVoe's three biological children, Peighton, Paige and Parker, ages
7 to 13, will be spending Father's Day with their dad, along with a
1-year-old boy the DeVoe's have fostered since birth and an adoptive
brother, Thomy Kness. They adopted Thomy nearly a year ago, with the
adoption finalized three weeks before he turned 18.
"I don't know what life would be like without them," Eric said. "They
make life full for me ... Every new person that comes into the house,
you still have room to love them, and it doesn't take away love from
any of the other ones. I love them all the same, and I love them all
different."
The DeVoes first learned of the need for foster parents in Fairfield
County while attending Pickerington Church of the Nazarene in 2010.
"We had just bought this house, I was expecting (Parker), but I really
felt like that God was talking to me," Teri recalled. " 'I brought you
to this place, this is what I need you to do.' And I just kind of
pushed it off because I was pregnant with my third kid ... and I
thought no, I'm not doing this."
But when the need was raised again during a church service the
following year, there was no question that they would act.
"After that service we kind of just looked at each other and said 'So I
think we're going to be foster parents,' " Teri said. They became
licensed foster parents in 2012.
With the continued support of their children, they don't see themselves
stopping any time soon.
Reflecting on parenthood
For Eric, Father's Day is a time to reflect on not only his own life
and children, but his parents who made a profound impact on his own
ability to parent.
"My parents have both passed away," Eric said. "I had a very good
relationship with my dad and my mom so I kind of think more about him
on that day. As far as being a dad, it does give me a time to sit back
and think how blessed I've been.
Eric DeVoe talks to his son Thomy Kness Thursday, June 14, 2018, at
their home in Liberty Township. Kness was adopted by DeVoe's family
shortly before his 18th birthday. DeVoe and his wife Teri have welcomed
more than 20 foster children into their home since 2012. (Photo:
Matthew Berry/Eagle-Gazette)
"If it's not modeled for you, I don't know how you know it," he added.
"Any kid that doesn't have a present, involved mother and father, it
kind of breaks my heart."
While both Eric and Teri say they're lives are blessed, Teri does say
she feels a sense of sadness on days meant to celebrate mothers and
fathers.
"They're missing out on so much," Teri said, explaining that she's
witnessed many of her current foster child's "firsts" because they've
fostered him since birth.
"Those are kind of sacred moments between a mother and a child, and so
while I'm honored to have been able to witness those things, there's a
grief there," Teri said. "That should have belonged to another woman,
not to me."
The DeVoes also got to see their adoptive son graduate high school,
another moment a biological parent should experience.
Looking back on the children that have come through their door, Teri
said Eric naturally falls into a fatherly role and has "had a
tremendous impact" on each child.
"He is such a patient, attentive, encouraging, supportive father," she
said. "I just think his children are extremely blessed to have him as
their father. There's been a couple of birth dads that we've been able
to work with that he's tried to model that for."
At one point, Teri said Eric had given parenting advice to a father
reuniting with his two boys.
"The birth dad was able to shake his hand and say 'Thank you so much. I
couldn't ask for somebody better to be filling in ... thank you for
doing what I couldn't do at the time."
A call to act
Eric said they often interact with people who praise their efforts but
say they wouldn't be able to be foster parents themselves. Neither Eric
nor Teri believe there is anything extraordinary about their family
that makes it impossible for other people to do.
Teri said the need makes the decision easy: "Fairfield County needs
foster parents."
Eric DeVoe stands behind his family Thursday, JuneBuy Photo
Eric DeVoe stands behind his family Thursday, June 14, 2018, at their
home in Liberty Township. Pictured with DeVoe are his children (left to
right), Thomy Kness, Peighton DeVoe, Paige DeVoe and Parker DeVoe and
his wife Teri DeVoe. Not pictured is a 15-month-old child the family is
fostering. Kness came to live with the family almost two years ago as a
foster child and was adopted a few months before his 18th birthday.
(Photo: Matthew Berry/Eagle-Gazette)
"We really are just a normal (family)," she said. "We have issues, we
have problems, but we're willing. We've opened the door, and yep,
there's room for one more. Some folks may not have room for one more,
but I bet more folks if they really thought about it, they do."
For information on adoptive and foster programs, go to the Fairfield
County JFS website at fcjfs.org.
Read this and other articles at The Lancaster Eagle Gazette
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