Deborah Lyn Holtz

Debbie is preceded in death by her grandparents, Herman and Hazel Lane, her sister Patricia, and her parents-in-law, Richard and Jeane Freuler. She is survived by her loving husband Ted of Columbus, parents Ray and Barbara Holtz of Newark, Ohio, children Matt (Amanda) Whitacre of New Albany, Lorrie (Jason) Callender of Hilliard, Sheri (William) Miller of Morgantown, West Virginia, sister Denise (Terry) Phillips of Wilmington, Ohio, brother Greg Holtz (Michael Hoda, partner) of Boston, brother Raymond (Trisha) Holtz of Newark, her beloved granddaughter Eleanor (“Ellie-bean”) of New Albany whom she adored and doted on, Ted’s siblings and their spouses, and many, many nieces and nephews on her side and on Ted’s side of the family.

Debbie was born in Wilmington, Delaware on August 24, 1958 and moved with her family to Newark, Ohio in 1963. She attended Newark City Schools and graduated from Newark High School in 1976.

Growing up in Newark, Debbie and her neighborhood friends had a mischievous side to them from torturing Debbie’s younger siblings to testing the effectiveness of a parachute using the family cat. Debbie was always working at a job. At a young age, she was tending the cash register at her father’s grocery store. As an adult, she worked for a number of years as an assistant to Dr. Rawlinson at Licking Memorial Hospital. While working full time and raising three children, Debbie earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration. She was the founder and owner of her own medical billing company, Medical Professional Business Solutions, in Columbus.

Through mutual friends who would get together for Saturday morning coffee – a Saturday morning tradition that continues today – Debbie met the love of her life, Ted. Debbie and Ted committed themselves to each other in 1996 and together they built a loving, nurturing home for themselves and Matt, Lorrie, and Sheri seeing them all graduate high school and then putting them through college. After Ted passed a 17 year probation period, Debbie and Ted married on September 16, 2013 in Las Vegas.

Debbie and Ted loved to travel, usually on trips planned by Ted’s Travel. They took trips to the Grand Canyon, Hawaii, San Francisco, Alaska (twice), Lake Tahoe, New York City, Niagara Falls, London, Disney World, several Caribbean cruises, and many other destinations. On one trip to the Grand Canyon, Debbie and Ted rode mules to the bottom of the canyon. Debbie loved it, saying it was one of the greatest adventures of her life. (Ted was terrified.) But the place to which Debbie and Ted particularly loved to go was Las Vegas, visiting there together over 30 times. One of their favorite things to do was to have breakfast on the patio of Mon Ami Gabi restaurant at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas. Then, just this past summer, Debbie had one of the highlights of her life going on a two-week trip to London and Paris with her mother, sister-in-law, niece, and a family friend.

Debbie and Ted attended many, many Ohio State football games together. They often traveled to Ohio State away games and went to many bowl games as well. They also attended many, many Columbus Blue Jackets games together (Debbie perhaps reluctantly), Ted being a season ticket holder.

Debbie always had at least one project she was working on whether it be knitting, sewing, needlepoint, blanket making, or quilt making. She couldn’t sit and watch TV without using her hands to work on something. She was a prolific picture taker and spent many hours putting photo albums together. Debbie was also an avid reader, played the organ, and loved to watch cheesy sci-fi movies like “Sharknado” on the Syfy channel. She and Ted also adored their cats.

Debbie was an awesome event planner always trying to make events as fun and enjoyable as possible. She recently planned her parents’ 50th anniversary party and, with her daughter Sheri, Sheri’s wedding. Both events were spectacular and could not have been made so without Debbie’s special touch.

Debbie was truly a wonderful person. There will never be another person like her. She enriched the life of everyone whose life she touched. The world is not as nice a place without her in it. There is now a profound emptiness in the heart of everyone who knew her and loved her.

The family would like to thank the doctors, nurses, and other staff at Riverside Methodist Hospital Neurosurgical Critical Care for their expert, tender, loving, and dignified care. They did everything that could be done for Debbie.

Family will receive friends on Sunday, October 12, 2014, from 5- 7 p.m., at Schoedinger Worthington Chapel, 6699, N. High Street, Worthington, Ohio 43085, where her Funeral Service will follow at 7 p.m. that evening.

Friends may, if they wish, make a contribution to the Scleroderma Foundation, To 300 Rosewood Drive, Suite 105, Danvers, MA 01923 or to the charity of your choice, in her memory.