Deborah Jean Strachan

Deborah Strachan, of Yarmouth, Maine, cherished wife of Stephan Gray Bachelder, devoted and deeply loved mother of Elizabeth Gray Bachelder and Julia Anne Cole, passed away peacefully at her home on Friday, May 30, following a long illness. “Deb” was raised in Irvington, New York with the seven other children of George and Roberta Strachan. After graduating from McGill University in Canada, she spent a year in Paris. She then worked as an editor at the United Nations in New York. In 1987, Deb and her young family moved to Yarmouth. After raising her daughters, she managed the Yarmouth Meals on Wheels center for ten years.

Deb lived her life with grace, elegance, tenderness and love. Her youthful travels and her work at the UN might have steered her to an international career. Instead, she chose her family as her beacon and her joy. Her daughters felt a gentle guidance and loving hand in everything she did, from washing tiny feet at bedtime to support and wisdom as they grew into adulthood. She was the book reader, game master, adventure leader and waffle maker. To some of her daughters’ friends she was “like a second Mom.” She was devotion itself.

Her love always extended to her larger family. Her siblings and their children now range across five countries in three continents, speaking six languages. The entire family remains extremely close, in large part because Deb so loved and cared for them and was, in return, loved by them. Steve once said, “I have to share her affection with about 30 other folks, but my portion is enormous.”

She is survived by her husband, her daughters and their families, and her large and devoted circle of extended family and friends.

A celebration of Deborah’s life will be held at 1PM on Sunday, June 22 at the Town Meeting House, 25 Hillside St. in Yarmouth. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Deborah’s name to Maine Cancer Foundation, 170 US Rte. 1, Suite 250, Falmouth, Maine 04105 www.mainecancer.org