Debra J Shank

Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Thursday, August 29, 2024 at 10:30 a.m. at the Sacred Heart Church in Cheyenne Wells, CO. Visitation will be held from 6:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday at the Brown Funeral Home Chapel in Cheyenne Wells. The Holy Rosary will be prayed at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday at the Brown Funeral Home Chapel in Cheyenne Wells, CO.
Debra (Debbie) Jean Shank passed away on Saturday, August 24, 2024 after a brief stay at Grace Manor Care Center in Burlington, CO after battling liver disease for several years. She was born on March 24, 1955 as the fifth daughter out of six to Lawrence and Esther (Malhberg) Harwig. Debbie attended schools in Cheyenne Wells and moved to Denver after graduating from high school. She married Richard Shank on August 9, 1980 whom she met at a "get together" and the rest was history. They made their home in Cheyenne Wells and that was when Debbie started working at Cheyenne County Abstract Company and continued working there for 42 years.
Debbie liked to read in her spare time, enjoyed helping Richard in the yard, enjoyed baking especially at Christmas time, and playing Mahjong tiles. She was a member of ESA and was instrumental in securing new Christmas lights for the town. She was also a member of Sacred Heart Altar Society and served as president of both organizations.
Debbie was the type of person who was a friend to anyone that she met. Granted, sometimes it took her a little while to warm up to them... ha ha. She was always in charge of the Halloween window decorating at the office as long as we could find the Snoopy decorations to hang up and for Christmas it was always an adventure getting the fireplace to light up and the presents all arranged. She also realized the importance of Duct Tape, it can hold glass in place on large windows, that it was okay for you to chew on pencils as a way to make sure that NO ONE was going to borrow them, and she made sure there was always a stock pile of the good real wood pencils available. Debbie enjoyed the simple things, a good patty melt, a diet Pepsi, apples with peanut butter, going out for supper, a quick gambling trip to Cripple Creek, supervising the planting of trees, and just quiet time with Sophie (their cat).
Debbie was definitely a creature of habit. If you beat her out of the office to take the mail, she would give you the look, lunch was at noon and Thursdays were bierock day. She loved Fall and seeing the leaves back East turning colors. She even took on learning a second language... all be it limited it still counted and she didn't even need Rosetta Stone.
Debbie was preceded in death by her mother and father, her in laws, Joseph and Rose, her older sisters Marilyn and Geraldine, brothers-in-law, Ron Bergkessel, Roger Miller, and Robert Shank. Debbie is survived by her husband Richard, brother-in-law Joseph (Lorraine) Shank, Jr. of Ovid, CO, and sisters-in-laws Jane Robinson of Sterling, CO and Kathy (Mark) Guilloz of Portales, NM, sisters Barbara (Charles) Silliman of Denver, CO and Mary Jane Miller of Lakewood, CO and Karolyn (Steve) Bertling of Denton, MD, numerous nieces and nephews, and her beloved cat, Sophie, as well as numerous friends.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Eastern Plains Animal Welfare Alliance (EPAWA) of Burlington in care of the Eastern Colorado Bank.