Exeter Township School District

At 25, Joseph P. McDevitt has a clear vision of the life he hopes to build.

It is not based on wealth or fame or possessions, but on the satisfaction of doing well the craft he loves, and the peace that satisfaction provides.

A graduate of Exeter High School, McDevitt earlier this year acquired Fegley’s Violin Shop in Exeter Township, the former business of James E. Fegley, a well-known violin maker and restorer who died in 2001.

He never met his business predecessor, but McDevitt, who had worked for Fegley’s widow, Margie, before taking over and eventually buying the violin shop, plans to honor his name and his reputation for excellence.

“I’d like to stay exactly where I am and carry on the Fegley name for another 40 or 50 years,” McDevitt said. “And then I’d like to fi nd someone else who could train and carry on the name.”

McDevitt, who studied violin making and repair at the North Bennet Street School in Boston, is trained in the classical fashion. He crafts musical instruments the way they have been made for hundreds of years, and each piece he fi nishes is a source of personal satisfaction and accomplishment.

“It’s all done by hand,” McDevitt said. “What bigger challenge or reward is there to build something beautiful that also sounds wonderful?”

During the intensive threeyear program in Boston, he

A 1990 article in the Reading Eagle chronicled the efforts of Exeter Township resident James E. Fegley, the owner of Fegley’s Violin Shop, to rebuild an old and valuable violin that had been run over by a car in 1989.

Fegley spent years working to repair the instrument, which was reputed to have been built by Pietro Guarnerius, a member of a famous family of violin makers from Cremona, Italy.

He was unable, however, to fi nish the job before his death in 2001.

When 25-year-old Joseph P. McDevitt earlier this year bought Fegley’s Violin Shop from Fegley’s widow, Margie, he inherited the broken violin, along with the rest of the store’s inventory.

As a show of camaraderie and respect for a man he never met but greatly admires, McDevitt decided to continue Fegley’s work to repair the instrument.

“I just kind of felt like I needed to continue the work he’d started,” McDevitt said. “I know I can put it back together, and I’ll work on it when I have the time. But, I think it’s going to take me a long time.”

That’s fi ne with him, as continuing and building on the business that Fegley started is more than a job to McDevitt; it’s a labor of love and his life’s work.

“I’m a strong believer that people are meant to do what they’re meant to do,” McDevitt said. “And this seems just right to me.”

Fegley’s Violin Shop is at 400 W. 37th St. in Exeter Township. It was established in 1979 by James E. Fegley, who ran it until his death in 2001. The business, which had been maintained since Fegley’s death by his widow, Margie, was purchased earlier this year by Joseph P. McDevitt, 25, who had worked in the shop while studying violin making and repair at the North Bennet Street School in Boston. McDevitt restores, repairs and sells violins and other instruments, and has an inventory of instruments for sale. He also buys some instruments that are no longer in use. The shop is run by appointment only. McDevitt can be reached by calling 610-779-0665 or at fegleyviolin@nullgmail.com. The shop also has a Facebook page at www.facebook.com/fegleyviolin. learned about violin making and repair from the ground up, and was given some unique opportunities for learning the craft.

His first repair project involved a cello that had been played at an inauguration of President Abraham Lincoln. Other instruments he worked on also were extremely valuable.

“I got to work on the ‘cheap’ stuff ,” McDevitt said. “I worked on instruments that were valued at between $150,000 and $200,000. People who had more experience did the ones that were worth more than that.”

In addition to learning the art of violin repair and refurbishment, McDevitt crafted six instruments during his three years in Boston, and has made many more instruments since then.

He also learned to play the violin during that time, a skill he had not acquired earlier, despite growing up in a musical household.

“My mom was a music teacher in the house, but I didn’t learn to play an instrument until I was in Boston,” McDevitt said. “I was a wrestler when I was in high school.”

Upon completing the program at North Bennett Street School in 2009, McDevitt was off ered an apprenticeship in Italy. He, however, had other plans.

“I was anxious to come home and get my life started here,” he said.

He had worked part time at the violin shop throughout the Boston years, and was off ered full-time work upon returning to Berks County. The shop, for which operations had been drastically reduced, began to get busier as customers got to know McDevitt and his work.

He and Margie, who discovered they are extremely compatible, worked together to rebuild the business and, eventually, McDevitt approached her about buying it.

Margie, 69, maintains an interest in the business, and she and McDevitt remain in close contact.

“Really, I think Margie and I both are lucky that this worked out the way it did,” McDevitt said. “When I think about it, so many things had to come together to make all of this possible. I’m never sure if this is the life I chose, or the life that chose me.”

In his fourth year of running the violin shop, McDevitt works constantly to continue improving his skills.

“I am my harshest critic,” he said. “But one of the reasons I like this work so much is because I keep learning and learning and getting better at what I do all the time.”

About half of his work time is dedicated to repairs and sales, while the rest is spent building fi ne instruments.

That time of building, the time when he shuts the shop door and loses himself in the old, storied craft of carving and piecing and securing together more than 70 pieces of wood for each instrument he makes, is McDevitt’s retreat; his Shangri-La.

It’s the time in which he fi nds peace, authenticity and the assurance that he is exactly where he is supposed to be.

“Sometimes I get up and I’m surprised to see that it’s dark outside,” he said. “This isn’t a 9-to-5 job for me. I feel like this is my life. It’s who I am. And you can’t take time off from who you are.”