Deborah Anne Lucia DePiero

Debbie was born in Hillsdale, NJ on January 21, 1951, the oldest of George and Patricia Lucia’s six children. She grew up in Hillsdale and attended Immaculate Heart Academy and Pascack Valley High School. She graduated from St. Alphonsus with an Associates degree in 1970. She married Terry DePiero in 1972 and they had seven children together. She and Terry moved to New Paltz in 1979, where they ran DePiero Farms together. Debbie kept busy raising children, painting whimsical pumpkins, making jams and jellies, sewing, knitting, crocheting and occasionally helping to pull a tractor out of the mud. She went back to school in1994 and completed her BA in 1998 and her Masters in English in 2001 from SUNY New Paltz. Debbie then moved to Rhode Island where she taught Freshman Writing Seminars and pursued her Doctorate in English which she received in 2007 from the University of Rhode Island. She moved to Laurinburg, NC where she was Director of Writing and an Assistant Professor of English for four years at Saint Andrew’s University. She had a passion for teaching and was instrumental in starting a Writing Center at St. Andrew’s for student looking for assistance in improving their work.

No matter how busy she was with classes and students, she always had time for her children and grandchildren. Debbie was a loving and devoted mother to her seven children and (at last count twelve) granddaughters. She will be fondly remembered by daughter Alison and her husband Scott Butler of New Paltz, NY; daughter Colleen and her husband Brad Gambino of New Paltz, NY; daughter Stacy and her husband Tim MacTurk of Rotterdam, NY; son Terry J and his wife Amy DePiero of New Paltz, NY; son William DePiero of Portsmouth, RI; daughter Catherine DePiero of North Kingston, RI; and daughter Lily DePiero of New Paltz, NY. Debbie’s wit and wisdom will live on in granddaughters Cora, Honour and Willa Butler; Bella, Cienna and Luciana Gambino; Grace and Brenna MacTurk; Crystal and Giavonna DePiero; Chloe DePiero and Ansley DePiero. She is survived by her ex-husband Terry DePiero of New Paltz, NY and her mother Patricia Lucia of Hillsdale, NJ; sisters Kathy Lightcap of Verona, PA; Robin Targosky of Moundsville, WV; Tricia Jandris of LaFayette, NY; brothers George Lucia of Palomar CA; and Michael Lucia of Hilton Head, SC, several brothers and sisters-in-law and scores of nieces, nephews, and friends.

A memorial service will be held at 9 am, on Saturday, January 21, 2012 at St. John the Baptist Church in Hillsdale, New Jersey. In lieu of flowers please send donations made out to the Deborah DePiero Memorial Fund to 1056 Old Ford Road, New Paltz, NY 12561. The Memorial Fund will provide a scholarship in Debbie’s name at SUNY New Paltz.

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