Deborah Duke

Sister to Jerry, Karen, and Richard.

Graduated from Bryan Adams High School in 1971. Earned Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Education with a focus on Reading from North Texas State University.

Married to Thomas Lynn Duke on July 18, 1975. Shared married life for over 50 years.

Raised three children: Kristina, Steven, and Melinda.

Nurtured 10 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.

Taught in Dallas Independent School District for 32 years. Taught part-time, substituted, and served as a teacher aide for several more years.

Peacefully returned to her Savior from home on October 30, 2025.

Life facts do not completely describe a person, certainly not Debbie.

Debbie’s greatest passions were family and teaching. She loved God, her husband, reading, her kids, teaching reading, her grandchildren, cooking, her great-grandchildren, travel, her siblings. You get the idea.

As an infant, Debbie would take her “baby twin brother” Richard’s bottle from him. A true sign of things to come later in life. She usually got her way with men.

Debbie grew up in the Baptist church. She was always a Christian. She read the Bible often. Her faith could be seen in how she treated others and everything she did. There is no doubt that she loved God.

Thomas and Debbie briefly met while in high school, but did not start dating until after she had graduated from high school in 1971. Not long after they started dating, Thomas accompanied Debbie to her brother Jerry’s wedding to Kathey. Debbie joked “It’s about time Jerry married Kathey. They have been dating for 4 years.” A sign of things to come? Wouldn’t you know it. Thomas and Debbie dated for 4 years before getting married in 1975. So, including marriage, Thomas likes to say,” We’ve been dating for over 54 years.”

Debbie made a special impact on many of her students, even teaching two generations of some students. Some former students have become teachers and she remained in contact with several former students until her death. Debbie received significant recognition during her career as a kindergarten and first grade teacher.

1997 - “The D.A.M.,E.” recognized her as ESL teacher of the year in Dallas ISD.

2001 – the Southeast Dallas Chamber of Commerce recognized her as Educator of the Year

2002 – One of two Dallas ISD Elementary Teachers of the Year

Debbie was legendary in her ability to manage classrooms of 5 and 6 year olds. She controlled her classes with a firm, yet gentle hand. As a substitute teacher, Debbie occasionally taught at schools where the principal did not know her. On the occasions where she was assigned to an historically difficult class, the principal might warn her about the typical behavior of the class. When the principals would “check on her” later in the day, they would be amazed at how well behaved the students were. As Thomas heard more than once, Debbie could “Walk on Water” in a classroom. Teaching flowed over into her impact on her grandkids. She always read to them when they were young. Some of her grandchildren have become almost as passionate as Debbie about reading.

Debbie’s skills as a mother were just as amazing. Thomas said he had two rules in his marriage with Debbie: “always say yes to his wife” and “stay out of the way” when it came to raising the kids. Debbie had a special technique for “saying no without saying no” to some of her children’s requests. She would simply say “Go ask your dad.” Well, the kids knew what that meant before they even asked their dad. And, Debbie was always teaching and providing direction in her kids’ lives. Once, Kristy was going to run away from home and go to Grammy’s (Debbie’s mom’s) house. Kristy packed some things and walked out the door. Debbie didn’t say much until Kristy began walking down the sidewalk. Then, to give the needed direction to her child, she said “You’re going the wrong way.”

The kids, like some siblings do, came up with their own language, changing at least one word in every sentence to begin with “Ch.” So Mama became Chama. And history was made. Practically all of the kids’ friends know Debbie as Chama to this day. All of her grandkids and great-grandkids call her Chama. All of the friends of her kids call her Chama. Even some parents of her kids’ friends call her Chama.

While the kids were growing up, the house in Mesquite was often the place for the kids and their friends to hangout. Chama’s house was the place to be. Debbie always said, no matter how many kids were at the house, they were welcome because she would know where her kids were and what they were doing. During this time, Debbie began perfecting her version of Grammy’s chocolate chip cookies. More on that later.

When their kids were about to finish college, Thomas had been not-so-secretly wanting to move away from their house in Mesquite near Town East Mall. The traffic around the mall was becoming almost unbearable, especially around the holidays. But Debbie did not want to go through the headache of moving. So, one day after completing some errands together, Thomas did not turn down their street when going home. Instead, he “kidnapped” her to go looking for potential places to move to. After selecting 4 potential floor plans, the builder was able to show Debbie all 4 houses. Debbie loved cooking. Once Debbie saw one particular kitchen, she was sold on the house plan and a contract to build was signed just 2 weeks after the kidnapping.

Speaking of cooking, Debbie inherited her mother’s determination to ensure everyone had plenty of their favorite foods to eat at family holiday meals. Multiple meats and vegetables were only the start of the what to eat. There could be at least 5 to 10 different desserts available: cookies, cakes, cobblers, and pies (oh my)! There was so much food, even Thomas’s brother Charles (notorious for eating seconds and even thirds at family meals) had enough to eat.

Debbie enjoyed travelling, but Thomas and Debbie did not travel that much while the kids were growing up. Of course there were some family trips in the summer, but no grand vacations until later. The first big vacation was to Sydney, Australia. The kids honored her by paying for most of the trip. It was a great trip with Thomas, Kristy, Steven, Melinda, and Melinda’s husband Clint. Kristy’s husband Dave and Steven’s wife Catherine stayed home to take care of grandkids. Seeing the Sydney Opera House and things unique to Australia was memorable. Since the trip included New Year’s, we got to see the most amazing fireworks show on the Harbor Bridge. Thomas had been to Hawaii for work a few times. Debbie regularly gave him grief for not being able to go with him on those trips. So later, they went there and took a wonderful 7-day cruise around the islands. Debbie’s most memorable trip was in 2024 when Kristy took her to Denmark to see where Debbie’s dad’s parents had been born. In Denmark there are places where the homes have the family name on the houses. They found a house with Debbie’s grandparents’ family name on it and even a road with the family name.

Another of Debbie’s passions were flowers and other plants. Debbie had a massive flower bed that essentially surrounded the whole house. So large, even she decided it was too big in recent years. But that never stopped her from tending it year-round. Thomas made it a point to visit arboretums on some of their trips within the U.S. so she could see different varieties of plants and flowers. And every time Thomas and Debbie went RVing to a state park, the walks through the parks to see the various local plants was a must do for Debbie.

Despite Thomas’s numerous requests over 54 years, Debbie absolutely refused to learn to play golf; something about no athletic ability. But she accompanied Thomas on all his golf trips with his golf buddies and rode along quite often when he played near home - an example of how they loved spending time together.

It is unclear when or why, but Debbie became a Dallas Stars hockey fan. First, Thomas got DirecTv so she could watch the games. Then he bought her (i.e. him) a large screen HD tv to watch the games and other sports. Finally, Thomas bought Stars season tickets for Debbie’s birthday. They became the gift that keeps on giving because he had to renew them every year.

Now, we’re close to getting back to Grammy’s cookies.

While Debbie was in Sydney, Kristy’s husband Dave took their youngest son Kade to his first hockey skating lesson. It was amazing and cool to watch Kade’s first lesson in real-time on Kristy’s phone. Sometimes, technology can be wonderful. Kade is still playing hockey 11 years later. Kade has played in numerous hocky tournaments in the US and Canada, providing great excuses to travel. Debbie made Grammy’s chocolate chip cookies to take to many games and many tournaments she attended. Naturally, the players love them. Well, so do the parents. So much so that the cookies are now known as Chama’s cookies and are famous across the U.S. and Canada.

Debbie’s life was rich and blessed. She influenced many, many children’s and adults’ lives with her care, love, and sharing nature. In return, she received love from so many people. Chama’s family wants to thank all of you here, and those not here, for your thoughts and prayers throughout the years, not just in this recent time of need.

Visitation, Funeral Service and Reception will be at Grove Hill Funeral Home

Visitation: November 6, 2025 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM

Funeral Service: November 7, 2025 at 10:00 AM

Reception: November 7, 2025 at 11:00 AM

Burial will be November 7, 2025 at Enon Cemetery, Alba TX at 3:00 PM

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in memory of Debbie Duke to MD Anderson Cancer Center, P.O. Box 4486, Houston, TX 77210-4486 or MDAnderson.org/Gifts.