Deborah Emerson

CUMMINGTON – Deborah Lee Emerson died in Cummington,  on Jan. 6, 2018.

Born in Springfield on Aug. 25, 1959, She lived at  Mougin Road, Cummington, with her son, Jesse Ray Emerson and their beloved Green Chili.  

She is survived by Jesse and by her daughter Nicole Rader in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Her mother Judith Emerson survives with husband Bruce Evans of Jacksonville, Vermont, and her sister Ginny Emerson in Plainfield, Connecticut.

She had lost her father, Donald R. Emerson, and his parents, Raymond and Jennie Emerson from Wilbraham, and her maternal grandparents, Charles and Angie St. Lawrence from Longmeadow, over the period of several years. 

Deb grew up in Wilbraham, with her best times in Chesterfield at Lake Damon.  After high school, she moved to California, working there as a baker.  She returned to New England in 1984 with her son Jesse to live in Wilbraham with her mother, and then went to the family cabin on Lake Damon to renew her life there.  She created a home and a flower shop in Chesterfield in time, writing the Chesterfield column for The Country Journal as well as working as a baker, cook, elder caretaker and school bus driver.  Many dear friends came from that time.  She was briefly married.

She moved then to Cummington, to open the Farm Stand at Lightning Bug, baking and creating a small restaurant over time with a reputation for good foods and conversations.  Friendships grew there as well, as Jesse did, and flowers surrounded them in their creative home.  In a slowed economy she took on several jobs with scheduling skill and energy, most recently the one she loved in the woods of a sugarbush.  Being back to the earth was the realization of a long time dream for Deb.

A memorial gathering will be held in Williamsburg at the Williamsburg Funeral Home on 3 South Main Street, Haydenville MA 01039 on Friday, Jan. 26, from 4-6 p.m.