Zeb (Thadius) Devine was born and raised on Martha’s Vineyard, a member of the Wampanoag tribe. He was a talented welder, trained in underwater applications. The true measure of a man, however, is not in what he did for a living or where he went to school but in the lives he touched – and he touched so many.

New Orleans became his home in 2009 and the city seemed to match his spirit – vibrant, artistic, magical, coming to life at night and unapologetically true to itself. There, he met countless kindred spirits, one of those being Sara Fiorenzo, with whom he forged a special bond as partner and mother of his sons, Lucian and Caius.

He leaves a city of friends who remember him as “an artist with a soul bigger than the sea,” someone who “encouraged every person [he] met to be more than ever before.” Someone whose “confidence was unmatchable, yet . . . always humble and kind,” “the most gentle soul and the strongest protector”, and “one of the smartest, kindest, most genuine humans to walk this earth.”

His cousin, Marah Bradley, summed him up by saying she always felt lucky to be related to him. He invented his own flavor, rejected conformity, had charisma for days, spread joy wherever he went and befriended everyone he met. He was a badass, mischievous, inventive wonder seeker and she couldn’t be more proud to have been a part of his life. His family lost a treasure of a soul in him.

To Thadius: rest easy knowing you did as much as humanly possible to make this world brighter for the rest of us. You proved you were alive every moment you were with us. You will be sorely missed, you shooting star.

He was predeceased by his father, Ralph (Syd) Devine.

He is survived by his sister and friend, Julie Devine of Washington D.C.; his sister, Andrea Eckhoff and his mother, Patricia Ray, both of Tucson, Ariz.; and countless others from Martha’s Vineyard to Los Angeles.