Deborah Ann Leon's Obituary
Deborah (Debbie) Ann Leon, 74, of Germantown, Tennessee, passed away peacefully at home on May 20, 2023.
Debbie was born March 29, 1949 in Monroe, Louisiana, the daughter of Thomas and Dorothy (Pettit) Holden. She graduated from Neville High School in 1967 and attended the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville and Louisiana State University is Baton Rouge. Debbie met Ralph Leon at the University of Arkansas and they married November 28, 1970.
Debbie and Ralph moved to Memphis in 1978 when Ralph began his career as a commercial airline pilot with Southern Airlines. Debbie worked as a flight attendant for Delta Airlines from 1969-1970, as an Executive Assistant at Agency Services insurance agency for many years, and then at Raymond James financial services. Debbie excelled in her professional work while also raising her two daughters. She sacrificed many lunch hours to drive Kim or Ashley to ice skating lessons or Girl Scouts and attend their school activities. She served a Girl Scout troop leader when Kim and Ashley were in Scouts and went on many adventures with them. Debbie was a lifelong Methodist and was a member of Germantown United Methodist Church for many years.
Debbie was artistically talented and spent many hours hand-beading Christmas stocking and ice-skating costumes. In her retirement she returned to oil painting, which she had learned in her younger years and created many beautiful paintings. She loved spending time with her family and Christmas was her favorite time of year. She decorated the house beautifully for Christmas each year and especially enjoyed collecting Hallmark Christmas ornaments. She also enjoyed reading and jigsaw puzzles. In her later years, she enjoyed getting together with her friends to play Canasta and Mah Jongg. Debbie loved to travel with Ralph and some of her favorite trips were to Hawaii and sailing in the Caribbean. Their last trip together, was a road trip out west to see the Grand Canyon.
Debbie’s family and friends have lost a wonderful human being. She had a kind and loving spirit and cared deeply for others. Debbie is survived by husband Ralph, daughters Kim Leon and her husband Ken McRae, and Ashley Lang and her husband Dan, grandchildren Amelia and Nate Leon-Rudy and Grace and Eli Lang. She was reunited in Heaven with her parents, grandparents, Frank and Annie (Hunt) Pettit.
Service to celebrate Debbie's life will be held in the chapel at Memorial Park Funeral Home, Memphis on Thursday May 25, 2023, at 10:00 am. Visitation will be from 9+:00 until 10:00 on that same day. Memorials may be directed to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. .
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