Deborah “Debbie” Goins was born Deborah Ann Burns on February 19, 1956 to Wanda and the late Olen Burns in Tulsa, OK. Debbie was a rare breed, down to her signature. She left Oklahoma for Texas with her family prior to learning cursive, and regrettably after she had missed the class in her new home state. Nonetheless, she improvised an inimitable autograph as a child, utilizing an alphabet in the ensuing decades not found in any text, modern nor ancient. Her children would later discover the difficulty of its repetition when attempting to forge detention slips.
Debbie married her high school sweetheart Larry Goins in 1978, much to his continued astonishment. She was the love of his life, and he hers. The pair raised three children together: Randall, Amy, and Kelley. Debbie lived a life as distinct as her signature. She was a devout Baptist with a subscription to Ms. Magazine. She had a strange affinity for amphibians, and peppered her home with an assortment of frog figurines. She accrued a herculean number of speeding tickets in her Trans Am. She reveled in the cacophony of slot machines and chatter on a casino floor. She would likely list “retirement” as her favorite accomplishment in her teaching career with VISD.
In her final years, she spent many hours with her husband and their dog, Tori, swimming in Lake Corpus Christi. She cared for her own ailing mother, visiting her near daily. She spoke with her children on the phone each day, often for hours. Debbie’s passing on June 2, 2019 leaves a void which will never be filled. Gone is a woman of kind heart, of genuine goodness. Her sense of humor, her selflessness, her compassion is gone with her. Her excitement following a winning scratch off ticket, her quoting of The Godfather, her laughter; all are replaced by silence and memories. We are luckier for having known her, and had her in our lives. Like her signature, she cannot be replicated. She is now with her father, her sister Kay, and her brother Michael. We hope one day to hear her voice again, and see her smiling face.
A visitation for family and friends will be Wednesday, June 5, 2019 from 5:30-7 PM at Rosewood Funeral Chapel. A Celebration of Life will begin at 7 PM. Memorial donations may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital or the American Diabetes Association. Words of comfort may be shared at www.rosewoodfuneralchapel.com.
