Cullen Debro Auvenshine

Debro is survived by his wife Kathy, their Boston Terrier, Mia, and his brother Johnny. He leaves behind his children, Danny (Sheila) Auvenshine and Debra Auvenshine Pacifico; his five loving grandchildren, Chad (Amanda), Keila Burkhart, Vanessa (Kevin) Young, Jorgedebro (Rachel) Pacifico, and Melissa Pacifico; and 8 beautiful great-grandchildren - Cullen, Kaleigh, Asher, Zoey, Emerson, Krew, Palmer, and Hudson. Debro is pre-deceased by his wife, Barbara Mangrum Auvenshine, his brothers - Dennis, Roy and Donald Auvenshine - and his son-in-law Jorge Pacifico, Jr. Debro also considered Bryon and Wanda Kersh his family. Stepchildren are Ricky Joe Rochelle and Maria (James) Harris.

His pall bearers will be Chad, Jorgedebro, Cullen, Kevin, Brian Lybrand and Shawn Bryan.

Debro graduated high school in 1958 and enlisted in the Army; he served as a section chief in the anti-aircraft missile division during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He and Barbara relocated their family from Lansing, Michigan in 1970 as a superintendent over manufacturing at Tranter in Edgefield. He was known to be stern yet kind. His employees recalled his favorite phrase when encouraging them to work hard was "I hired you and I can fire you!" Many shared their fondness of him and respect for him. He retired from Tranter in 2003 but never stopped working.

Over the years, Debro raised cattle on his farm in Ridge Spring, a place where he taught the boys in our family how to hunt and have respect for the land. He also spent countless hours attending his grandchildren's sporting events, helping them build their homes, traveling with them, and teaching them life lessons, including that family is most important. Even with all of his responsibilities, he always found time to enjoy life and get away to his favorite places, such as Michigan, Myrtle Beach and Tennessee.

Debro was most proud of his family. He was extremely close to his children Danny and Debra, and was always just down the road whenever they needed a hand and a phone call away every day.

Our family knew a side of him that others may not have: mischievous and playful. The grandchildren remember him being excited every Christmas morning to hand our Granny the present he had worked so hard to keep secret. Another family favorite is when all the Auvenshine brothers got together to share stories from their childhood. When all the guys in the family swapped stories, Papa always had a sideways grin remembering the good ole days. As the people in his small Tennessee town said, "Those Auvenshine boys left their marks wherever they might have been." Our Papa Debro was no exception.

We will forever miss the strong presence Papa had in our family but are grateful for the promise that we will see him again.

Services will be held on Tuesday, January 21, 2025. The visitation will occur at Edgefield Mercantile Funeral Home from 12:30 to 1:30 followed by a brief service officiated by Wes Holbrook. The burial at Aiken Memorial Gardens will follow immediately after the service.