Deborah Jeanne Dulany Gehrm

Debi was born on August 4, 1967 in Charlotte, North Carolina and was the daughter of Wendy Lawton of Raleigh, NC and Rod Dulany of Fruitland, Maryland.

In her youth, Debi was active in Brownies, Girl Scouts, competitive year round swimming, and drama in high school.

For 20 years Debi worked in the restaurant business at Jimmy V’s in Cary, N.C. She was loved, respected, and relied on. She also worked briefly with helping the start-up of Crumbs Music Media until her career and life changed dramatically after an errant gallbladder surgery. It required multiple surgeries to try to repair her body but her life was never the same again. Throughout all this Debi was resolute, determined, and simply Debi.

Debi was unique, artistic, and eclectic. If she was your friend, you had a friend indeed. In one notable instance, a friend was wrongfully detained by authorities on a trip to a foreign country and Debi worked tirelessly contacting government officials to help facilitate her friend’s release. She has always enjoyed her friends and family. She was a person that was the light of every conversation and brought smiles to the people she was around. Debi had the great fortune to make several good friends which she has kept over the years.

Debi was devoted to The Green Chair Project and Interact Family Safety & Empowerment Center, helping wherever and whenever she could. During the pandemic, Debi wrote a three page article for the Triangle Downtowner Magazine issue 151, called “The Age of Covid-19: A Time of Help, Hope, and Hustle” that identified various organizations to turn to help for those whose jobs were lost because of business closings.

Debi left her footprint, wherever she worked, wherever she lived, wherever she volunteered in short, wherever she was.

She is survived by her mother Wendy Lawton (husband Bill); father Rod Dulany; step-daughter Debbie Adams of Salisbury; step-brother Will Lawton (wife Stacy & daughter Charlotte); uncle Page Dulany (wife Cheryl); aunt Randye Finigan (husband Jim); Cousins: Bill Finigan (wife Sarah Blake & son William); David Dulany, Jan Edwards (husband Ron), Paxton Dulany (wife Lauren); Brittany Rich (husband John) and the children of her cousins.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, April 15, 2023 at 11:00 AM at Triangle Church of Christ, 2103 Page Rd. Durham, NC 27703. Family and friends are invited.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Green Chair Project, 1853 Capital Blvd. Raleigh, NC 27604, Interact Family Safety and Empowerment Center, 1012 Oberlin Rd. Raleigh, NC 27605, or Triangle Church of Christ (Africa Special Missions), 2103 Page Rd. Durham, NC 27703.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.brownwynneeastmillbrook.com for the Gehrm family.