ALBANY — Pat Devane, who had theater training, became confidential secretary to Mayor Erastus Corning 2nd, ran the City Arts Office in the 1980s, founded what became Park Playhouse and was instrumental in bringing Capital Repertory Theatre to Albany, will be celebrated with a memorial on Sunday at The Rep.
“She had a tremendous impact on so much of what went on in theater and other events and activities in the city,” said former Mayor Jerry Jennings, who got to know Devane during his years as vice principal of Albany High School and as a member of the city’s Common Council. They were longtime friends, and though she had left public service by the time he took office in 1994, he said he considered her an unofficial adviser for years on most matters theatrical and cultural.
“She had opinions about a lot of things, and she wasn’t afraid to tell you what she thought,” Jennings said Wednesday…