Debra Denzer

Debra Denzer was born February 5th, 1955, to Wilma and Edward Denzer in Tallahassee, Florida, but spent all of her most formative years growing up in Branchville, New Jersey. She grew up on Culver's Lake in Sussex County as a country girl-playing with the puppies her dad raised as hunting dogs; working her first job as a roadside fruit vendor and reading books in between customers; and making life-long friends. Though she moved away from Culver's Lake at eighteen to pursue her bachelors degree closer to her parents' new home in Florida, she never stopped being homesick for it. There, she learned her love of nature which she shared with her family, neighbors, peers at the Henderson Park Community Garden, and Wild Nest Bird Rehab later in life.

After completing more than half of her degree at USC, she transferred to the University of Florida to be closer to her parents and then-fiance, the latter of whom expressed confusion and disapproval at her desire to pursue a master's degree after college. While at University of Florida, she came home from class one day to report to her roommate that she had encountered "the most interesting person she'd ever met" on the campus bus that day, a graduate student at UF. After a few more bus rides, she broke it off with her fiance to start dating the love of her life, that interesting man on the bus, Bob King.

Not entirely certain what she wanted to do with her life after college, she went to observe him in a class he was teaching for his graduate studies in linguistics, an English as a Second Language class. She left thinking, "I could really enjoy doing that..." and went to the ESL office to find out what she'd need to do in order to make it possible. While she commented that she went to the program director's office with only curiosity and "cut-off jeans," she had found her life path-after getting her masters degree, she taught ESL to college students on and off for the next 40 years, while later transitioning to International Education. This interest developed out of her work with immigrants and refugees as well as her own travel, to help students gain exposure to the benefits of cultural exchange and learning to be gained from international travel.

After several years together with Bob, she accepted a position teaching English in China shortly after it was opened to Americans. Though the long distance was especially challenging in 1981- no wifi, no emails, no cell phones, only once-monthly one-hour long phone calls ($100.00 each) and letters in between- it paid off, as they were married on April 18 of 1981, when Bob came to visit toward the end of her teaching assignment.

Over the next 40 years, she would teach thousands of students who felt her care and investment in their lives, her passion for her subject, and her belief in its importance. Deeply influenced by both her experiences teaching immigrant and refugee students, as well as her awareness of her own family's immigrant history, Debra held a lifelong belief that "the circumstances of our birth are random, and do not determine our worth as individuals." She was a lifelong supporter of immigrants and refugees searching for a better life and good education, and the power of education to uplift generations of a family line, as she herself had experienced.

Her passion for international education was both professional and personal, traveling to fourteen different countries and living abroad for four and a half years for Fulbrights (Romania - Bob's, and Italy - hers) and various trips as Director of International Education at Georgia Perimeter College - Clarkston Campus. Closest to her heart and personal formation were her experiences in China, Romania, Italy, Belize, and Germany. Though not one to naturally step into the spotlight, she was encouraged by her professional peers to take on several leadership positions over the years. She undertook these positions with a spirit of service, advocating for teachers and students in the face of budget constraints and other administrative issues.

Though she had many achievements and adventures, the most important part of her life was always her family, especially her daughters, Cassie and Alison. She and Bob both put a premium on time spent together-believing "quantity time is quality time," especially with young children-and raised them with love of nature, the written word, and the saying "it's nice to be smart, but it's smart to be nice!" She loved learning from and with her children, and participating in their adventures as they both aged and took their own paths in life. Cassie also brought into the fold two of the other greatest loves in Debra's life, her daughter-in-law, Amanda, and beloved and only grandchild, affectionately known as Bean. She was never happier than when she had her whole family together, whether they were playing board games, traveling to Jekyll Island, camping at Vogel State Park, sharing a meal, hosting the annual Christmas Party, or just spending time together.

After retiring, she and Bob took to traveling again, this time exploring more of the US together, reconnecting with old friends and visiting Alison in her various adventures across the country. She spent her final years especially in nature-gardening, kayaking, hiking, camping, volunteering at Wild Nest Bird Rescue, and daily walks through the neighborhood with Bob. After more than forty years married and close to fifty years together, her face still "lit up when he entered the room."

Her life was marked by her love of the natural world; her fellow humans in the world; the written word; a lifelong curiosity and openness to learning and growing; and her adoration of her family. She is predeceased by too many loved ones from her same cause of death, cancer. Among those with whom she commiserated, swapped wisdom, encouraged and received encouragement from, and shared great love were Cheryl Benz, Kim Krinsky, Cyndi Palfrey, Laura Ribas, and her beloved sister, Sandi Dekker. In light of all of these losses, and her own, she asked that donations be made to the American Cancer Society to support further research to find a permanent cure to cancer. Donations are also encouraged to International Rescue Committee and Wild Nest Bird Rehab, for their important missions that her life's work supported.

She was born a Sussex county country girl who was the first in her family to go to college, and died having travelled the world; taught and shaped thousands of students from across the globe; and co-created a loving and devoted family who adored her and each other-and she was still a Sussex county country girl, who will finally get to return home to rest for good, only a few miles from her beloved Culver's Lake.