Debra Kay Swift

Debra Kay Swift of Colorado Springs, Colorado passed away on Thursday, January 27, 2022 at the age of 57. She was born on March 15, 1964 to Morris Palle Jr. and Judith Weaver. She lived in Nebraska until 1974 when she moved to Canon City, CO.

She met her husband, Mike at a Bible study in 1987. Their first date was on the top of Skyline Drive where she thought he was going to kiss her, but he just wanted to hold her hand. They were married on April 23, 1988 in Cañon City. Four and a half years later, in October 1992, they welcomed their daughter Jennifer. Debbie was overjoyed at having a child. Although, she was surprised when Jennifer wanted to do ballet, dress up fancy, and all things girly. Despite Debbie being a self-proclaimed tomboy, she always helped Jennifer pursue her own interests.

Debbie worked with Dominos around the time she got married and for about 10 years after. She really enjoyed that experience and loved Domino's pizza for the rest of her life. In the early 2000s, she began working at Ford Motor Credit. She made lots of friends and worked there for about 15 years. Shortly after leaving Ford, she pursued her dream of becoming a real estate agent. She always enjoyed looking at houses for fun, so she was excited to help people find the homes they loved. She pursued education, research, and even branched out of her comfort zone to find a new creative outlet- making YouTube videos, which were more fun than she expected. She also was able to help people through buying and selling their homes.

Mike and Debbie moved to Colorado Springs in 1998 when she was finally able to consistently own dogs. She always wanted lots of kids and lots of dogs. She lodged anywhere between one to four dogs after that point. The dogs she had at the time of her death were Ebony, Ivory, and Pepper. Pepper was even able to be with her when she passed; another part of the family. Although she did love every dog that came through, she particularly loved Shadow, Sugar, and Pepper.

In 2005, her heart for kids drove her to foster care. They had seven foster kids during the next few years. Five year old Mackey was one of those kids. He went back home after a few months with Mike and Debbie, but when he was 12, they agreed to be his forever family. They chose him twice. She was excited when they adopted Mackey, her son, in 2015.

In 2018, she experienced a mother's greatest joy: becoming a grandma. She was thrilled with Tobias, showering him with gifts and watching him grow. She enjoyed learning guitar with him. She often learned to play the songs he liked and recorded them for his enjoyment. Then, in 2020, she became a grandma again to Emilia. She was excited to have both a grandson and a granddaughter.

She spent the last two and a half months of her life in the hospital. A hard providence, to be sure, but Debbie was grateful of all that God was teaching her. Most notably, she was learning to trust and delight in the fact that her life was for Jesus' glory and she wanted everyone to know. She also learned to trust him; that he was in control of everything, even the small things. There was more that God was teaching her that she was excited to work out, but sometimes it's the little things that are the most telling. A self-proclaimed picky eater, she tried several foods in the hospital that she would have turned down before. She even liked some of it. Through this and other things, her family was able to see some of that transformation and got to hear her excitement about God working in her. Her last moments were spent surrounded by her family while hymns filled the air, ushering her into God's presence.

She is survived by her husband, Mike, daughter Jennifer (Dan), son Mackey, grandchildren, Tobias and Emilia, sister Kimberly, and brother Mike. She will be sorely missed by all these and more.