Deborah Norton

Deborah Norton, wife, mother and retired healthcare executive died on Saturday, February 18, 2023 at the Brigham and Women's Hospital after a long illness. She was 69 years old. She was diagnosed with cancer over ten years ago and managed the illness over a long and extended period.
Deborah was born in Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard in 1953 and grew up as an Island girl on the Vineyard in a time when the island was not developed and the land and the sea were considered much more pristine. She attended regional schools and graduated from the Martha' s Vineyard Regional High School in 1971. Of her happy times there, she once saw James Taylor play a concert in a field up Island in his early years. She fondly remembered driving VW Beetles that her father had repaired around the Island with her brothers and sister and friends.
Deborah graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1975 with a degree in psychology. She married Charlie Palano from Pittsfield in 1976. She then moved to Philadelphia with Charlie where he attended dental school. After graduation, they moved to Vallejo in northern California. Dr. Palano was a dentist in the US Navy and was assigned to the submarine fleet there. The two separated amicably in 1983.
During her first marriage to Charlie, Deborah became very close to his extended family in Pittsfield. Ma. It was there that she learned to cook Italian food from Charlie's mother Mary and his sisters. Deborah enjoyed the Palano relationships very much and maintained them throughout her life.
Deborah then went on to attend the University of California at Berkeley where she received an MBA degree in 1983. She was very proud of graduating from Berkeley and fondly remembered her teachers there, including taking an economics course with Janet Yellen.
Deborah then worked at the international accounting firm Ernst and Whinney in San Francisco in the mid 1980s where she was a manager in the healthcare consulting practice. She worked on a wide variety of hospital and other healthcare assignments from Santa Barbara to Merced. She focused on both small and large hospital groups, flying all over California as she learned the business. She met her future husband, John Moynihan, in 1983 while working at E and W at a luncheon. John worked in the tax department of the firm.
John and Deborah moved back to the Boston area in 1985 to be closer to family and home. They moved to Brookline and have been residents of Brookline Village for over 35 years. It is the place they called home. They renovated and lived in several triple decker houses along the way, enjoying the neighborhoods and the renovation process. They currently reside in a two family house on Linden Place.
Upon her return to Boston in 1985, Deborah worked for over ten years at Newton Wellesley Hospital (NWH) in a variety of roles, including being the vice president of risk management. She fully enjoyed her time at NWH and had many great relationships with the doctors on the medical staff and colleagues at the hospital. It was there that she met close friends and colleagues Ron Bartlett and Kathy Marino.
Deborah and John eloped and were married on December 5th, 1986 in their walk-up apartment in Brookline with a justice of the peace. They were married for 36 years. They adopted two children from Korea, Emily in 1990 and Samuel in 1992. The children were raised in Brookline and attended Brookline public schools. Emily is now 33 years old and lives in Plymouth, Ma. with her son, Collin Rymszewicz. Sam is 31 and lives in the Coolidge Corner area of Brookline.
Deborah continued to work while being a mother and wife and eventually moved to Harvard Pilgrim Health Care where she worked for many years in their campus at 93 Worcester Street in Wellesley, Ma. She began as VP of corporate information management and ended as the Senior VP of IT and operations and was the Chief Information Officer at the company. She was a well respected and liked senior leader who always supported her team and colleagues. Her team and people in the organization were everything to her. She mentored many younger staff at the company. She enjoyed her time at HPHC tremendously and worked for a variety of CEOs, including Charlie Baker, former governor of the state. Deborah retired from HPHC in 2021 as part of the merger with Tufts Health Care.
Deborah participated fully in the lives of her children and husband, taking Emily to riding lessons and competitions for many years at barns throughout the South Shore and the New England area. The family had a second home in Manomet, Ma where Deborah and the family spent many happy times on the water, at the beach, and in the company of Deborah's mother-in-law, Josephine. Deborah also had a particular fondness for the family basset hound, Lulu.
Deborah's passions were her family, cooking, enjoying the holidays and participating on the board of the Arc of Massachusetts. She spent many hours with Leo Sarkissian and the leadership team there. Deborah also collaborated on a cookbook with her husband in 2018 called In Deborah's Kitchen.
Deborah leaves her husband John, children Emily and Sam, grandson Collin, brother Ralph and sister Dawn and a variety of nieces, nephews and other relatives.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to three of Deborah's favorite organizations: the Dana Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), Brigham and Women's Hospital and The Arc of Massachusetts.
There will be a celebration of life service at St. Mary's Church at 5 Linden Place in Brookline, Ma. on Wednesday, March 8, 2023. Remembrances of Deborah at 9:30 am and Mass at 10:00 am. Reception to follow immediately afterward.