Deborah Kay Sweeney Stover

Deborah Kay Sweeney Stover, age 46, died on Saturday, January 26, 2019, at her home in Virginia Beach, Virginia. She was born in Albuquerque, NM to Rev. Walter and Mary Sweeney and was the younger of two daughters. As a child, Debbie was active in dance, chorus, band, piano, theater, volleyball, softball, and basketball. After graduating from Tabernacle Baptist High School, Debbie went on to attend Liberty University where she graduated with a Bachelor’s of Art in Business Administration in 1995. She married her high school sweetheart, Philip Stover in 1996. She then spent several years working in the hospitality industry, but after the birth of her son, Andrew, she began studying to become an elementary school teacher. She realized this dream six years ago when she launched as a first year teacher at Norfolk Christian School for one year followed by five more years with Norfolk Public Schools and Virginia Beach Public Schools as a fifth grade teacher. As a teacher, she thrived. She was passionate about teaching and wanted her students to personally grow as much as possible not only in academics but also in the content of their character. She is survived by her husband, Philip David Stover and her son, Andrew Campbell Sweeney who reside in Virginia Beach, her father and mother, Walter Campbell and Mary Elizabeth Sweeney who reside in Norfolk, Virginia, and her sister Beth Sweeney Newman, who resides in Durham, North Carolina. Debbie’s funeral service will be held Sunday, February 10, 2019, at New Song Fellowship, 865 Woodstock Rd, Virginia Beach at 2:00 PM followed by a burial at Charity United Methodist Church Cemetery, 4080 Charity Neck Road, Virginia Beach. Doors will open at New Song Fellowship at 1:30 PM to accommodate time for remembering Debbie’s life. As a wife and mother, Debbie loved to cook, bake, and garden. She did love flowers. Those who wish to send flowers may do so to Hollomon-Brown Funeral Home, Princess Anne Chapel, 3445 Princess Anne Road, Virginia Beach, Virginia, 23456, and those who wish to support us in our fight against Colorectal Cancer may make donations, in Debbie’s memory, directed to Dr. Blobe’s Gastrointestinal Cancer Research, Duke Cancer Institute, 710 West Main Street, Suite 200, Durham, NC, 27701. Condolences may be offered to the family at www.hollomon-brown.com.