Celebrant Pam Meily Vetter


	Celebrating Life Everyone Has A Story...

The year of Deborah Joy's birth was 1965. When Debbie's mother found out she was having a girl, she was so excited. Joy asked her sister, Pat, to make her a five-tier laced basinet ruffle. It was beautiful. Deborah Joy was born in Anaheim to her mother, Joy, and her father, Jim, on January 28th, 1965.

Debbie and her brother, Dennis, were raised by their single mother and their grandparents. Debbie had a good childhood and she experienced great love from her mother, grandparents and extended family.

When Debbie was really little, her mother bought colorful material and Pat made several frilly dresses for young Debbie. She was about four or five years old at the time and she was such a cute little girl. Debbie was shy but her mother, Joy, made sure she got involved. Her mother would go to extremes so her daughter would win Halloween contests. Joy dressed her up as the Bride of Frankenstein one year. She put her in an old wedding dress and stacked her hair up on top of her head. Another time, Pat gave her an ice skating majorette costume and she won. Debbie was hilarious as a child. She put her Uncle Dean into hysterics as a kid. She did skits all the time as she'd do something she called "the tail." She'd wave her hands in the air and say, "That's the tail." She was quite a little performer at times. Her brother even teased her about "The Deb Dance" that she did when she was young.

Her grandparents were ministers and Debbie attended Christian Day School until junior high and high school. From fifth grade through high school, her best friends were Rick Sonnenberg and her second cousin, Kathy. Debbie and Rick remained close buddies to this day, as Rick always talked about when they were little. He remembered when they were riding in the back of the station wagon, Debbie's cousin, Todd, was a baby at the time and he was sucking on a bottle. Rick and Debbie teased Todd by taking the bottle out of his mouth until he cried and then they'd give it back to him. They liked teasing the baby.

Later on, Debbie's second cousin, Pearl, also became her close friend as she did a lot of things for her. Pearl had Debbie's hair done and bought Debbie clothes, too.

There were many camping trips for Debbie to Glen Ivy with her mother. The family had a time-share at Glen Ivy and Debbie really loved camping. In fact, Joy and Debbie spent a whole summer in Pat's trailer at Glen Ivy one year.

As a teenager, Debbie listened to rock and roll music. Her Uncle Dean told Debbie that "the music was better in our era" and he told her how great Elvis was. Meanwhile, Debbie was telling Dean about a singer named Elton John who she liked far better than Elvis.

When Debbie learned how to drive, she fell in love with cars. She loved to drive. She'd speed down the road and she loved driving stick shift. One time her grandfather saw her speeding toward their house and he had to flag her down to slow down or she would have crashed into Dean's Corvette.

Debbie went on to graduate from Anaheim High School and a year later, she married Tom Knight. Debbie's grandfather conducted the wedding ceremony, while Aunt Pat made the flower arrangements and the cake. It was a family affair as her Aunt Terry sang at the wedding. The couple had two wonderful sons, Josh and Brandon.

In those early years, Debbie was there for her kids and she'd take them on vacations. They'd go moteling once a year by renting a motel for the weekend so the kids could play in the pool and get away for a few days. Debbie, Tom and the boys also liked to go camping.

After the couple grew apart and divorced, Debbie had two more daughters and named the girls Janielle and Brittany. When the girls were little, Debbie and Joy spent a full summer with the girls camping at Glen Ivy. Debbie dated David Green and her youngest son, Jacob, was born a few years later. Debbie loved all of her children so very much.

For holidays, she dressed the girls up for Easter and the boys wore suits. Debbie even had Easter egg hunts for the kids. For Halloween, she dressed them up in costumes and she loved the Christmas holiday.

With many favorites in life, Debbie's favorite color was black. So much so, even her kitchen was black and white. She kept a really nice house when she had her own place. Debbie was also fond of watching basketball. Her favorite team was the Lakers. After a Lakers' game, she'd call her brother, Dennis, and tell him, "The Lakers won!" She had a Kobe hat and Kobe jersey that she wore while watching the games because she was a big fan of Kobe Bryant. An avid reader, Debbie liked writing and journaling. She liked to listen to rock and roll of the 70s and early 80s. She also liked rhythm and blues. She also loved animals. When she lived in the duplex apartment, Debbie had a golden retriever named Pow Wow. The dog eventually went to live with Shirleen.

Debbie had a sweetness about her. She couldn't say no to anybody. When she saw her Uncle Dean, she hugged his arm. She was very demonstrative, gave hugs and said I love you often to her family. Pat and Shirleen were always a big part of her life.

When Debbie's grandparents died and years later, her mother, Joy, died on Christmas Eve, it was rough for Debbie because she always felt she could depend on them. She was so grateful for her extended family. She often called her family. Shirleen fostered Debbie's daughters for three years and Pat was always trying to help. Many family members did what they could to help in different ways. Debbie had a hard time facing challenges, but several times she tried to get back on her feet. She attended her Aunt Terry's funeral a year and a half ago and she gave Dean and Pat hugs at the service. She told them, "I love you." A few weeks later, her Aunt Pat and Uncle Dean bought her new glasses so she could see. They took her to an exam and she was so grateful to see things clearly with the glasses again.

Debbie always did her best to keep in touch with her kids. She talked to them by phone and she loved each one of her children individually. Her son, Brandon, works for the airlines and he gets free passes. So he flew her back and forth to Utah for a few days and more recently he flew her to Washington to visit his grandparents. Two years ago, Brandon flew to Southern California and he took Debbie to Knott's Berry Farm and they had a wonderful time. Brandon had been planning to fly the family to Hawaii and he was so excited about surprising his mother who had never been to the Islands.

Recently, Pat, Shirleen and Roger went to "The Harvest" with Greg Laurie and they were given New Believers Bibles. Pat sent her Bible to Debbie and she inscribed it as a gift. Debbie really appreciated the Bible because with grandparents who were ministers, she always had strong beliefs in Our Lord Jesus Christ as she was raised going to a protestant church every Sunday.

For Christmas a few weeks ago, Pat and Shirleen sent her a gift box of lipsticks, perfumes, a wallet, and a bunch of goodies. They loaded up the box at the post office and Debbie called Shirleen. She was so excited because inside of the Christmas card was a gift card for Del Taco. She said she ate at Del Taco that very day that she opened it because Del Taco was always her favorite place to eat.

Just before this most recent Christmas, Debbie was crying on the phone to her Aunt Pat saying "This Christmas is going to be a good Christmas. I'm getting presents for my boys and girls." She asked Pat for Dean's address to send him a Christmas card. She sent that Christmas card to her Uncle Dean, dated on the 15th of December, and it said, "I haven't seen you for a while, but I never forget you. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Love you Uncle." And, she signed it Deb. She remembered that Dean always called her Deb growing up instead of Debbie. He was the only one to call her Deb.

During the last year and a half, Debbie lived with her friend, Arthur. He took her into his home and let her stay there. She stayed in contact with her extended family throughout her stay in Arthur's home. She called her Aunt Pat and said, "Thank God, I have a warm bed to sleep in." She was so grateful. She didn't have very much, but she placed great value on what she did own. She valued her mother's dishes and her mother's hutch. Through the years, her car was always her number one prized possession. She couldn't wait to get into a car and rev the engine. Whether it was a good car or a piece of junk, she didn't care, she just loved cars. She and Arthur recently bought a car and they planned to drive it down to see the family for the fourth of July. Debbie and Arthur were also talking about maybe adding a room onto the house if she got the kids back. They were making plans for the future.

Shirleen talked to Debbie on the Friday before her passing and everything was so wonderful. She was looking forward to Christmas and for the first time in a long time, she was looking forward to a new life. She had really gotten her life back on track.

Her passing has come as a shock to her entire family, but her family feels she is now at peace with our Lord Jesus Christ.

If Debbie could have lived her life over again, her family knows that she would have done it differently. But the family will carry the good memories of Debbie with them. Debbie will best be remembered as feisty and stubborn, yet sweet and warm-hearted. Her advice to her children would be to get a good education and be happy in life. She was so proud of her kids. The entire family will miss her terribly. They will miss her smile and sweet nature.

Debbie was preceded in death by her grandparents Velva and Lesley; her mother Joy; and aunt Terry. She is loved and remembered by her five children Joshua, Brandon, Janielle, Brittany, and Jacob; brother Dennis; aunt Pat; uncle Dean; cousins Tammy, Todd, Shirleen, and Rick; nephew Lil D; niece Danielle; extended family and friends.

May Debbie rest in peace...