Donald Devlin, 70; led African American dance company in L.A.

Donald Evan Devlin, 70, a longtime grant writer and administrator for the locally based R’Wanda Lewis Afro-American Dance Company, died March 25 in Los Angeles of complications from diabetes and heart disease.

Born and raised in Columbus, Neb., Devlin served in the Navy, earned a degree in business administration from the University of Nebraska and in 1965 moved to Los Angeles, where he worked for Northrop Electronics.

After seeing Lewis’ dancers perform in a local nightclub, he became a fan of the company, then its administrative director and R’Wanda Lewis’ husband.

He eventually left aerospace to work in dance full-time.

With his help, the Lewis company became the most successful African American company in Los Angeles during the 1970s, giving the dancers year-round contracts and important bookings. Lula Washington, who now heads her own local company and took over the Lewis studios in 1983 (eventually purchasing the building), danced for Lewis in the early 1970s and recently called Devlin “the backbone of the company. I have what I have today because of Don and R’Wanda.”