Deborah Lynn McConville (née Sheain), of Virginia Beach, Virginia, died on August 26, 2024, in Virginia Beach. She was 63. Deb was a devoted wife, mother of two, sister, aunt, and a career labor-and-delivery nurse who helped hundreds and hundreds of little ones enter the world.
Deb was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, spent her early years in Claymont, Delaware, and moved to Virginia Beach in the seventh grade. She was the daughter of Walter and Arlene Sheain, inheriting her father’s Irish practicality and her mother’s beautiful smile. She communicated love through quality time with family and friends, camping, sailing, and walking on the beach. For 45 years, she shared many special moments and beautiful views at Frisco Woods campground in Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. On many weekends, she celebrated life with her husband, children, and friends on the beaches at Chick’s Beach and Sandbridge. She loved a good story and enjoyed a quick wit, good jokes, a hearty laugh, and melodies and lyrics by artists like Chris Stapleton, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Blue Lords, the Skip Castro Band, and many others. Sunsets on the water and ocean-front bike rides re-energized her.
Deb graduated from Bayside High School in 1979 and then Dental Assistant school at Old Dominion University. In 1986, she graduated from the DePaul School of Nursing in Norfolk. She served as a registered nurse at DePaul Medical Center in Norfolk for 34 years, caring for patients on medical surgical units initially. Ultimately, after delivering her own son at DePaul Medical Center, she found her calling delivering babies and caring for mothers. After 28 years as a labor-and-delivery nurse, she was on the last day shift at DePaul Medical Center’s Center for Birth in March, 2020. She also worked at Sentara Leigh Memorial Hospital for two years after DePaul. Known as a reliable and experienced nurse and leader, Deb mentored new nurses and earned the deep trust of physicians and mid-wives. She empathized deeply with her patients, sharing the joy of new life with many and, in hard cases, relating essential truths with kindness and prayer.
Deb and her husband Chuck were sweethearts at Bayside High School, and together, they raised a daughter and son to be as gentle, industrious, and empathetic as she was.
Debbie is survived by her husband of 37 years, Charles J. McConville; and her two children, Meghan E. McConville and Matthew J. McConville (Katherine Bonney) all of Virginia Beach; her father, Walter Sheain of Elizabeth City, North Carolina; and sisters, Robin Mitchell (Mark) of Virginia Beach, and Tracy Baluzzo (Dan) of Elizabeth City, North Carolina. She is also survived by fourteen nieces and nephews. Deb was predeceased by her mother, Arlene Sheain (née Carry).
After she was forced to accept the challenges of lung cancer, Deb kept a little sign on the wall. “There is always something to be grateful for,” it read. She quietly demonstrated the essence of that simple, little sign on a daily basis, and her spirit of goodness, cheer, and humility continue to inspire all who knew her. She was especially grateful to all those who cared for her.
