Debra A. (Richards) Stinson's Obituary
Debra A. (Richards) Stinson, 61, beloved wife and loving mother died at home on October 7, 2015. Born June 29th 1954, the youngest of two siblings, to the late Ashley Bradford and Alma Ruth (Mann) Richards in South Weymouth, MA.
Debra grew up in Holbrook, MA, moved to San Francisco, CA and finally ended up in North Central Florida in 1973. She worked at and managed the Hogtown Granary Food Cooperative where she met her husband, John, in early 1975. Debra befriended Myrtle Dudley (of historic Dudley Farms) and resided on a quarter section of Ms. Dudley’s property in a heart of pine cracker shack with John where they picked pecans for rent periodically from 1976 through 1980. Debra acquired much knowledge from Ms. Dudley, most notably, her love of unique Dudley begonias and amaryllis.
Debra moved to Micanopy and resided in the old Mack Farmhouse off the original Wacahoota dirt grade where she and John married in 1980. She hosted many spectacular St. Patrick’s Day and Thanksgiving parties there with friends and family that traveled from near and far to attend. She moved into Gainesville with her family in 1987.
She was an active member of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church and became Chairperson of the church school committee; she loved teaching Catechism and Holy Communion classes and was employed as Director of Christian Education for many years under Pastor David Pittman. For nearly a decade she was a driving force behind the annual Christmas Pageant put on by the Catechism classes. She was instrumental in having the tile mosaic installed in the floor of the Earl C. Page Parish Hall.
Debra continued her education receiving her AA in May 2006, followed by her Bachelor of Science Degree from New York Institute of Technology in 2009. Her entire family was very proud of her for this accomplishment.
Debra was as eclectic and self-educated a person as anyone you could meet. She delighted in the smallest and most exquisitely detailed aspects that nature presented, whether the tiniest shells on the seashore or the minutest parts of the smallest flowers in the prairie or roadside. Debra’s St. Augustine Beach friend, Sylvia S., wrote, “When I became a woman, I put away childish things, but you reopened my child-eyes.”
Debra worked in various laboratories at Santa Fe Community College and UF; at the Harn Museum as the “Lily Lady”; and then moved to the lab and Butterfly Rainforest for two years. Debra could talk animals with zoologists, food with agronomists, biology with biologists, theology with priests, plants with botanists, butterflies with lepidopterists, and politics or the environment with anybody.
Debra loved to entertain and was an incredible baker and chef. She was well known for her Thanksgiving and Christmas food spreads containing everything from cookies, tea breads, fudge and cheesecake to the main course of stuffed turkey, ham and wide array of traditional New England sides. She and John had annual New Year’s Eve parties that were a blast! She was featured in the Gainesville Sun on March 9th 1989 for her specialty of homemade breads including her braided challah and Irish soda breads. She could entertain 5 or 155 guests and loved every minute of it. Debra is quoted as saying, “Heaven is a perfectly designed kitchen with something simmering on the stove and baking in the oven. Oh, and any gizmo you need at your fingertips for, well, whatever!”
Among her happiest memories were camping with the kids; annual wedding anniversary getaways to the Chalet Suzanne with John for over 20 years; weekends in St. Augustine Beach; trips to Chicago to see family and watch her daughter run marathons; a trip to Mexico to see the Monarch Butterfly Migration and a trip to the Annual New Orleans Jazz Festival with her two eldest grandsons; and of course caring for and helping to raise another grandson for the past 4 years. She always wanted all her daughters to know how proud she was of each of them for their own individual accomplishments and families.
Debra is survived by her husband, John G. Stinson; her daughters and sons-in-law, Caitlin M. Schoonmaker (David), Jessica S. Czechowicz (Nicholas) and Stephanie O. Comstock (Jared), as well as, grandchildren, Justin Schoonmaker, Jeremy Schoonmaker, Calvin Comstock, Macey Ann Comstock (born 10/5/15) plus John Douglas Czechowicz (due 10/30/15); brother, Ashley Richards; nephews, Bradford Richards (Brittany), Tyler Richards, and niece Cameron Kadek (Sophim).
A memorial Mass will be held on Monday, October 12, 2015 at 11:00 a.m., at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church with a reception to follow in the Earl C. Page Parish Hall. Debra will be interred at the Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery in a private ceremony attended by family to be returned to the nature she loved so dearly. In lieu of flowers, it is requested that donations be made to the Holy Trinity Episcopal School / Debra Stinson Memorial Scholarship Fund at 301 N. Main Street, Gainesville, FL. 32601.
October 12, 2015
Stinson, Debra A. (Richards), 51
It is appropriate we are in this place today, where Earl Page taught our family that you are allowed to laugh in church.
When I was told this eulogy was limited to 5 minutes, my first thought was:
I only need 2 words: "Debra's Late!"
My Dearest Friend Debra, no one will ever know how much I wish you could be late for this occasion. I always thought waiting on you for what seemed like forever would last longer.
I remember as if yesterday, seeing her for the first time at the Hogtown Granary Food Co-op on South Main Street, kneeling by some bins, turning slightly with a grace and dignity and a little tow-headed blonde girl near her.
Did I say that Debra loved children?
Her own, three daughters; of whom she was so proud. Her Grandsons, whom she loved so much. Her grand-daughter just born and next grandson due.
It is easy to mythologize the earthly departed, as if they were error-free; Debra like most of us wore her faults on her sleeve.
But her qualities, as shown by the out-pouring of love from her entire family, her friends and this church, from across the continent: Alaska to Chicago; Maine to Mississippi; California to Massachusetts and throughout Florida! People and care and support have come from everywhere...just look at this congregation and consider what people recall and think of her:
A force of nature; creative; clever; fun and full of life; insightful; hilarious but wise; patient and tender; amazing; eclectic; outspoken; lucky Monsanto to lose your internet foe! Nurturing and Mothering:
Did I say Debra loved children?
17 years of vacation bible school, 20 or more years involved with catechism and Solemn Communion classes. My-oh-my how can you not love a person who cares so much for the innocent? Small children, flowers, birds, butterflies and "most" dogs....
She could, would and did talk any subject with any "ist"...and they would quickly realize this was no uneducated discussion.
Debra's affinity with nature and our human role in it is relevant to each of us; many Native Americans believe the power of the natural world lies in its circularity...the incredible complexity of separate, intersecting and concentric circles, the rhythms of life... and death.
Joan Didion wrote "and then....gone; 'in the midst of life we are in death' Episcopalians say...”
These intersecting circles, ironies, pains and joys of our family with Debra in these last weeks are almost beyond comprehension, so breathtakingly rapid have the events transpired: Two grandchildren due; her diagnosis; the birth of her first granddaughter; Debra's passing; her burial on one daughter’s birthday; another grandson in three weeks.
But, if we live our lives looking backward, all we do is bump into things.
Debra was vibrant in the present, and looked forward. with great joy, almost every clay she lived... and I was the lucky one who got to share that with her.
So now Debra has "walked across the bridge where angels dwell and children play" as the old Irish ditty says and she will be buried naturally, to return, dust to dust.
Debra admired strong women and great strength is needed for her journey. In "Out of Africa,' when Denys dies, the lions lay on his grave on the mountainside, viewing the landscape below, so I wrote a final poem for Debra:
Lioness Metamorphosis
You are stalking a burial
and I promise you veranda
overlooking the prairie
where your genes and molecules and atoms
will secure the veldt as huntress.
When both the beauty and
terrible wrath of nature's way
have had their way with you
When seeds have sprouted
from your shallow soil,
grasses and rainfed flowers will
thrive above your watch
When clouds keep time
above the trees and eagles soar
with woodland hawks and
swallowtail kites circle
When barred owls cackle before dawn
then sundrowned sulphurs and zebra longwings
flit and pollinate with honey bees
When sandhill cranes feed, their
curlique calls spiraling up in spring...
then gone,
leaving behind pock-marked grounds
When yes, each and all and more of this
begotten from your chrysalis
and you
below the dark edge of the world
become love
for the life you took from you
and gave to them.
For Debra and butterflies ancl Calvin 2015
(9 /2, 9/11, 9 /15, 9/16, 9/20, 9/25, 9/30)
What’s your fondest memory of Debra?
What’s a lesson you learned from Debra?
Share a story where Debra's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Debra you’ll never forget.
How did Debra make you smile?
