She was a 1969 graduate of Southside High School, and her family were charter members of the Wesley United Methodist Church in Fort Smith Arkansas. Deborah and her husband Larry, to whom she had been married for 40 years before he died in 2010, lived in many different cities and states due to his service as a United States Marine and his civilian career. Just before Larry died, Debbie and Larry moved from their home Church in Kentucky (Trinity Hill UMC) to live in Virginia with their son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren. They established a new home church at Saint Mathias UMC, that Debbie attended until last fall when she moved back to the local area with her family and became a member of Heritage United Methodist Church. Deborah had a love and passion for teaching others the word of God, and she would always share her love of teaching God’s word in the churches and communities everywhere she went. She embodied the servant spirit of Jesus Christ and through ministry, spread the love of Jesus to every person she came in contact with every day.
She is survived by two sons, Eric Whittington and his wife Durell of Mountainburg, AR and Scott Whittington of Dublin, GA; two sisters, Suzanne Gibson and husband Mike of Fort Smith and Charlotte Garner and husband Ronnie of Benton, AR; two grandchildren; and seven nieces and nephews.
Deborah will lie in state Thursday, August 27, 2020 from 11 AM to 7 PM at Edwards Funeral Home in Fort Smith. The family will be present from 5 – 7 PM.
Funeral Service will be 10:30 AM Friday, August 28, 2020 at Heritage United Methodist Church, 1604 Pointer Trail, Van Buren, AR 72956, with burial at Fort Smith National Cemetery. The funeral service at Heritage will be streaming on the internet from 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM central time at https://www.youtube.com/c/HeritageChurchVanBuren/live or go to http://heritage.church/ for any changes or updates to the stream.
Memorials may be sent to: the Education or Building Fund at Heritage United Methodist Church or to the church of your choice.
