Debra Michelle Sullivan

Debra Michelle Sullivan departed this life on Tuesday, December 16 at her home in Dubuque, IA.
Debra was born on July 29, 1970 to John M. Sullivan and Annette K. (Shughart) Sullivan in Macomb, Illinois.
She is a graduate of Macomb High School and also sought higher education at Western Illinois University in Macomb and Illinois Central College in Peoria.
She worked for 11 years in the Editorial department of Glencoe/McGraw-Hill Publishing Company in Peoria, Illinois where she assisted with producing textbooks in the fields of Technology Education and Family and Consumer Sciences for the high school and post secondary market.
In 1996 while both were helping with a professional fireworks show in Astoria, Illinois, she met Mark Dierker then a resident of Rushville, Illinois and the two fell in love and remained together until her death.
Mark taught her to make custom jewelry and for several years they ran Pink Coyote Designs, making and selling jewelry at local fairs and galleries around Central Illinois. In 2000, when Mark was adopted by a Shawnee elder and given the name Stone Bear, she was given the name Moondancer and in 2005 she and Mark formed Bear Dancer Studios to showcase their artwork. In the 2010s she became an abstract painter and helped Mark start a pop-up art gallery in Dubuque, Iowa in 2019. In 2021 along with friend John Potter, they started Widdershins Artisan Gallery in Dubuque where she thoroughly enjoyed her job as curator and resident painter.
She loved to read and would read as many as 4 books a week. She also enjoyed crossword puzzles as well as her artwork and helping her aunt, uncle and cousins with several professional fireworks shows around Central Illinois each summer.
She was fond of wearing a faded baseball cap that read "Well Behaved Women Rarely Make History!" Anyone that knew her well knew how true that was for her, as she would often just do odd things out of the blue.
She loved animals especially a long string of cats and always had at least 2 around her. She was extremely proud of the accomplishments of her nephews and cousins.
She was preceded in death by her mother Annette Sullivan, Aunt Betty Pickett Shryack and Uncle Bill Hickle. She is survived by her life partner Mark Dierker, her father Mike Sullivan (Candy Scanlan) of Colchester, younger brother Mark Sullivan (Gretchen Sullivan) of Colchester, nephews Connor Sullivan of Macomb and Andrew Sullivan of Colchester, Aunt Lynette Hickle of Astoria, Uncles John Sullivan of Plymouth and Steve Sullivan of Astoria, Cousins Gwen Hickle Hillyer (Scott Lawyer) of Adair, Devin Hickle (Laura) of Astoria, Rachel Hickle of Astoria, Evin Hillyer (Jessica Blanchar) of Monroe, WI, Belle Hiland (Marcus) of Augusta, Nicole (James) Toliver of Chillicothe, Matthew Sullivan of Chillicothe, Lillian Sullivan of Chillicothe, Gavin, Colin and Blake Toliver of Chillicothe, her cats Gypsy, Beryl and Ruby and countless friends and loved ones.
She has been accorded cremation rites and will be interred near her mother in Oakwood Cemetery in Macomb. A memorial for family and friends will be held at Dodsworth-Piper-Wallen Funeral Home on Saturday January 10, 2025 at 11:00 am. A Celebration of Life will be planned in Dubuque, Iowa and announced in the coming weeks.
Donations in her memory may be made to The Veteran's Freedom Center in Dubuque, Iowa or your local public library as reading was very important to her. Please sign the guestbook and leave condolences at www.dodsworthfh.com