DEBORAH GRANT LORD

September 12, 2020,


formerly of Moorestown N.J., passed away peacefully surrounded by family in her Cushing Maine home. She will be remembered as a kind and compassionate person who loved her family and the natural world. Debbie graduated from Franklin and Marshall College with a BA in 1978. She received her Master of Science from the University of Pennsylvania in 1982. Early in her career she worked as a geologist for SMC- Martin and at the US Geological Survey until 1988. While raising her family, she pursued her true love, environmental education. During this time, she worked for or served with many groups including Rutgers University, Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Sanctuary, the Pompeston Creek Watershed Association and Palmyra Cove Environmental Foundation. After her children were grown, she began a career as a teacher. She taught sixth grade science at Moorestown Friends school for four years. Retiring to Cushing Maine in 2015 she worked as a substitute teacher in the Rockland School District and ran an after school environmental program at the Cushing School.She was an avid kayaker and hiker and was her happiest in the outdoors. Hundreds of school children and countless acres of land along with animals of every type felt her love and were better from her efforts. She is survived by her husband of forty years Craig, son Nathaniel Lord, daughter in law Megan Lord (nee Madara), daughter Augusta Van Tongeren and son in law Gregory Van Tongeren. She is also survived by three sisters, Sue McTyier of Ticonderoga NY, Linda Veblen of Waldoboro Maine, Sheri Gorsen of Washington DC and a brother Keith Grant of Elverson Pa., mother in law Margaret Lord of Topsham Maine, and sister in law Jennifer Gallogly of Cherry Hill NJ. In lieu of flowers, please send a donation to Natural Resources Council of Maine www.nrcm.org.