Debbie Ellis Turpin

Debbie R. Ellis was born on September 23, 1947. She attended Dwight D. Eisenhower HIgh School in Blue Island, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, from 1961 to 1965 and was a member of the National Honor Society for two years. She received a B.A. from University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh in 1971, majoring in foreign languages.

After graduation, Debbie returned to Chicago to work as feature writer, assistant editor and advertising coordinator for National 4H News magazine. In 1972 she moved to Moscow, Idaho to work as Head of Publications at University of Idaho at Moscow. She married John Lambrecht at Coeur D'Alene in 1972; they divorced in 1976.

She married James (Jim) Turpin in 1977 and they were married until his death in May, 2022. She opened a print shop with Jim in Moscow, Idaho in 1979 which they owned for 20 years. Debbie served as President, Board Member and Community Advisor of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce from 1979 until 2003.

After closing the print shop, Debbie worked at Latah Health Services in Moscow as an Admissions Director from 2000 until 2003, when Debbie and Jim moved to the Coeur D'Alene area. There she worked at Kootenai Cancer Services from 2008 until 2015. Debbie and Jim lived near Coeur D'Alene until 2022 when, following Jim's death in May, 2022, Debbie returned to Moscow. She died at her home there on March 21, 2023 at the age of 75.

Survivors include her niece Valerie Lambrecht of Altadena, California and two great-nieces. "She was our Aunt Debbie." We miss you.