Debra "Debbie" Erlene Hutchings

After a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer, Debbie left her earthly body on July 4, 2026, and is now in the presence and loving arms of Jesus. She is more fully alive now than she has ever been before! She had been in hospice for 10 days and passed away peacefully at her home in Longmont, Colorado.

Debbie was born on September 18, 1957, in Denver, Colorado to parents Donald E and Erlene Castle (Wall) Vogt. Debbie spent her childhood in Commerce City, Colorado and graduated from Adams City High School in 1975. She then attended the business school of Colorado State University, graduating in 1977 from their secretarial program. Debbie worked at secretarial positions in legal, insurance and school offices until she began to raise her family.

She met Carl Douglas Hutchings at church in 1974. On June 3, 1978, they married and began 48 years of marriage together. Shortly after their marriage, they moved to Longmont where they lived for over 47 years. Debbie and Carl were blessed with two children, David Carl in 1983 and Laura Denae in 1988. Debbie loved being a mom and poured her life into her children, family and a home in which to raise them. They were a great blessing to Debbie’s life. When grandchildren came along later, Debbie loved the role of being grandma and loved her grandchildren dearly as well. Debbie was a loving wife, mother and grandmother.

Over the years, she was involved in many aspects of life at Calvary Church in Longmont, now Venture Church. Debbie loved Jesus, had a strong faith and an assurance of who she was as a child of God, a follower of Jesus. While serving Jesus through the church, Debbie developed many relationships with others that encouraged, supported and prayed for her throughout her life. She especially cared deeply about praying for others. Debbie had a way of connecting with people, making them feel safe and they found her to be someone they could talk to and be real with. A recent comment was “she saw people when they needed someone to see them”. Debbie cared deeply about people and that opened the door to many great relationships.

Debbie loved taking pictures and recording her family's memories as well as the beauty of God's creation. Over time the recording of memories became more about telling her family’s story. This led her to begin helping other people tell the stories of their lives and the story of their families with a particular passion for how God was working through the story of their lives. Debbie started a scrapbooking business in her home and helped many people organize their memories and tell their life story. She also was very creative and expressed her creativity in this way. Later, Debbie became more involved in photo organizing including digital photo organizing and ways to help people gather, organize and tell their stories to make them available for future generations.

In July of 2024, Debbie was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. This began a two-year journey of medical treatment, much of which occurred at a medical center in Arizona where she received great care both medically and surrounded by doctors, nurses and others that cared very much about her as a person. In the midst of all the difficulty of cancer, Debbie's faith and trust in Jesus grew even deeper. Even at the hardest times, the light of Jesus Christ in her could be seen by those providing medical care and her friends and family supporting her through this journey. Debbie persevered through all of this with much grace, courage and strength. We are so very grateful for all the medical providers that provided the best care possible and especially the support of so many friends and family that supported, encouraged and prayed for Debbie and all our family through these last two years.

Debbie is survived by her husband Carl, son David (Andrea) Hutchings, daughter Laura Hutchings, grandchildren (David’s children) Kavan, Keeley, Kairi and Emiko, mother Erlene Vogt, sister Vicki (Bob) Hose and nieces Stephanie and Susan Hose. Debbie was preceded in death by her father, Donald Vogt.

A Celebration of Life for Debbie will be held Friday, July 17, 2026, at 10:00 AM at Venture Church, 2101 Gay Street, Longmont, CO 80501.

Memorial gifts may be made to the ministry work of either Debbie’s daughter or son at the following websites:

Laura – Ministry to children with disabilities and their families in Haiti

Modern Day Missions @ https://www.modernday.org/profile/laura-hutchings/

David – Ministry to the military

Cadence International @ https://cadence.org/project/where-needed-most/