Deborah Miranda Rodriguez

Debbie passed peacefully, with her mother by her side, on Saturday, December 20, 2025, after a tough but well-fought battle with cancer.

To know Debbie was to know love. She was the sweetest and most selfless soul, always wearing her heart on her sleeve—truly one of a kind.

Debbers carried many forms of love in her life. She loved like a mother, caring for her siblings and even helping raise other family members’ babies. She loved like a sister laughing while pushing buttons, being a know-it-all, being sassy with her demands, and taking it all back when caught. Dabs loved like a niece playing into her role as an innocent. She loved as a friend, helping people find joy in the smallest of things. Lina loved as a best friend, helping those closest to her find purpose in their lives. Deb loved to give gifts to share a token of her appreciation with people. It was a way she made us feel seen. Gorda even loved like a husband, keeping tabs on her mama and grandma - they couldn’t get away with anything. Deborah also loved like a leader, guiding people toward sobriety and showing them that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Miranda saw people for who they truly were and always helped them see themselves as wonderfully as she saw them.

Debbie loved her family and friends deeply and endlessly and she would drop anything for us. But beyond this, she was a woman who found happiness not only through the people in her life, but through living her life as fully and authentically as she could.

Deborah was adventurous, always posting her car in new locations. She was a foodie, regularly taking her mom to try new spots she discovered online. She was creative, insisting she could DIY just about anything. She was a chef, always cooking the best meals to feed everyone’s babies. You’d think she was a car expert by the way she knew everything about cars—even by ear. You’d even think she was a racer by how fast she drove her pride and joy. Debbie was also a questionable DJ but we couldn’t argue with her tastes. Debs was confident and would absolutely put up a fight if you dared to test her. She was truly a lover and a fighter. She was everything she wanted to be and so much more to the people around her.

To know Debbie was to know all of these things. But most of all, to know Gorda was to experience love for yourself and to find community with someone who heard you out, always.

To lose such a wonderful human being aches every one of us. But if there is anything we learned from our Gorda, it’s that we must push on through and celebrate her life as best we can.

We will always honor you, Debbie. We hope and pray that your love continues to guide us and that your light lives on through everyone you touched.

To our loved ones, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your love, prayers, and support, on behalf of her mama, Lorena, her sisters, and the rest of the Rodriguez family.

Rest in peace, our sweet Gorda.

As a last “see you later” a vigil will be held at Dopkins Funeral Chapel, located at 189 South J Street, Dinuba, CA 93618, on January 14, 2026, from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

The funeral service will take place at the same venue on January 15, 2026, from 10:00 am to 11:00 am.

We encourage you all to attend wearing t-shirts of one of Debbie’s favorite bands. (Twenty-One Pilots, Billie Eilish, Panic! At the Disco, My Chemical Romance, or Fuerza Rejida).

For her funeral service, we will do a Bouquet Exchange. Please bring a bouquet to place at Debbie’s altar. Everyone who brings a bouquet is welcomed to take home a different bouquet with a prayer card as a keepsake of the love that is being felt in the room these days. This will be just one more way we hope to honor Deborah’s love of gift giving.

Thank you, all.