Our amazing and loving mother, Debie Yates-Edeline, left this earth far too soon surrounded by her loving family on August 30, 2021. She leaves behind a legacy of love, family and memories that will be cherished forever.

Mom was born in Bend, Oregon on February 6, 1953. Debie moved to Eureka with her family at a young age, where she grew up and raised three beautiful children — Kelley, Triniti and Amy — and granddaughter Ashley. Debie dedicated her life to being the most amazing mother, grandmother, sister, auntie, wife and friend. She excelled at supporting the people that she loved the most through the many passions and difficulties in their lives. Whether that was supporting her daughters and granddaughter through the birth and raising of their children or forging a special bond with her friends, she made it her mission to improve the lives of everyone she met. Her greatest joy in life was her family — family time was treasured. My mother was one of the strongest women to ever walk this Earth and our family was blessed to have her as our matriarch.

Debie lived her life for her family and adventure. She absolutely adored spending time at Ruth Lake kayaking around and being the lake Gramma. She lived her life for her family and friends. One of our fondest memories of her is from her favorite place, Ruth Lake. She would go up to the cabin the night before and get everything ready for our arrival. The next evening, as we pulled down the road we could see the cabin all lit up with Gramma on the deck waving and welcoming our arrival. She always had dinner prepared for us and everything in order so we could enjoy a wonderful weekend together. She shared her love of adventure and the outdoors with her kids, grandkids and any other stray children that took interest. She taught her grandkids to kayak at a very young age and shared her love of the lake with them any opportunity that arose. She was the lake Gramma for all of the families that enjoyed the lake, oftentimes playing mother hen to the adults and kids alike.

One of Debie’s favorite pastimes was finding a good rummage sale, she was just shy of a dumpster diver and always loved a good deal. She took pride in looking for unique items that she could refinish and repurpose and use throughout her home or gift to others. One piece that still adorns her granddaughter Ierly’s room is a corner hutch that she found just a few months before she passed. She took Ierly to pick up the piece and as they were loading it into the back of her car they realized that it would not fit. Gramma Deb rigged up a system that held the hatch partially closed while Ierly held the corner hutch from the back so it wouldn’t fall out into the road. Gramma Deb restored the hutch to its original glory in her garage over the next few weeks. Before she passed she made sure to make her wishes known that the corner hutch was for Ierly and she wanted it to go in her room.

Gramma loved the holidays and kids’ birthday celebrations, pumpkin carving parties, or really any get together that involved all of the kids and sharing each other’s company. You could often find Gramma Deb working behind the scenes at all family and friends gatherings to insure that a great time was had by all. No one will ever forget her red ipad that she held up to take thousands of photos over the years. At the time, we did not appreciate those photos, but she did not care and she took them anyway in typical Debie fashion, often corralling adults and kids alike for the perfect shot. Many of these photos currently hang in our homes to this day and are some of our absolute favorite photos of our families and friends.

Gramma Deb was spontaneous by nature. She loved taking people on their first adventures. There are many stories of Debie impulsively changing her destinations and the itinerary multiple times throughout the duration of the trip. One memory in particular was when she and her brother Mike helped move their sister to Oklahoma. On the way back, she randomly decided to veer hundreds of miles off course to take Mike sightseeing to a few places that he had not yet explored. She often made these unexpected decisions just minutes prior to the exit that would lead them off course by hundreds of miles.

Debie also had two granddaughters (Taylor and Rayne) that she would visit whenever she made her way South on one of her expeditions. They would always get their nails done together, take the dog to play at the beach and shared with them their first time on a train and on a fairy that carried them over to Coronado Island.

On another occasion, Debie convinced her 85 year old mother to board a plane for the very first time in her life and head to Mexico. Somehow, they ended up on a tequila booze cruise by accident, but as it turned out they had the very best time. (Neither of them drank) Gramma Deb would often just show up at her daughter Triniti’s house with a wild idea to go do something crazy with all of the kids. She never planned it, she just showed up, told Triniti her idea and set off with kids in tow to make memories. Most people with children know that some sort of planning is usually required, but not for Gramma Deb, she would get an idea for an adventure and set it in motion. This spontaneous spirit paralleled her will to live life to the fullest and to not let it pass her by.

Her adventures with Chet were some of her most memorable trips. She and Chet would travel around the country with the Matteolis adventuring around the beautiful outdoors. They visited many beautiful places ranging from Yosemite, Boulder Dam, Scottsdale, Sedona, Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, Sun River, Lake Wallula, Glacier National, Montana, Jackson Hole Wyoming, to name just a few. She often went white water kayaking and made many trips to the Klamath River, Trinity River, the Hell Hole South Fork of Trinity, and Van Duzen to name a few. Her friends described her as having no fear. Some of her all time favorite trips were to Hawaii with her kids and grandchildren listening to somewhere over the rainbow with the top down, warm air blowing through her hair and a touch of salt water in the air, the scent of plumeria in the tropical breeze. On the very first trip to Hawaii that Debie and Triniti took together they both got tattoos to commemorate it. She loved Hawaii, she would play “Somewhere over the rainbow” and reminisce about all the fond memories made on vacation there. On the rare occasion that Debie was not out adventuring or making memories with her family she could often be found quietly reading her newest book.

Debie made friends very easily. She was always welcoming to everyone and made people feel like part of the family right away. When she and Chet moved to Shelter Cover she made many great friends with the locals and they quickly became her cove family. She enjoyed teaching family and friends how to boogie board and had a wetsuit for anyone who wanted to partake.

Many people who knew Debie knew that she had a can-do attitude, she never shied away from any situation, she took life on with no hesitation. Debie never showed weakness, not even in her darkest moments. More recently, even with her health deteriorating, she was a spitfire and her words were candid and witty just like she had always been. She lived life to the fullest every single day and would always say “Don’t sit idly by or life will pass you by.” One of her last imparting phrases of wisdom were to her family and friends, she stated that when she was gone she didn’t want people to sit around and be sad. She wanted her loved ones to go out and enjoy life and remember her by doing that instead.

People were drawn to Debie’s liveliness, humor, and tenacity, and she picked up lifelong friends everywhere she went. She is remembered by many in their own special way. Mom made a point to connect with a lot of people, she went out of her way to forge special, deep and unique bonds with people over shared life experiences. She offered unwavering support to people in her life and connected with them in a way that I could not. My friends became her friends through these connections. Her confidence, her compassion, and her love helped many through some of the hardest times of their lives. She touched and changed many lives over the course of her lifetime.

Debie’s baby brother Mike held a special place in her heart. When she fell ill he gave up everything he had, picked up and moved to Eureka to care for her. They took countless trips the last few years and he supported her every step of the way. Over the years they shared many adventures, one of them being their trip to Yellowstone and also many trips as youngsters camping at the Dinsmore Bridge. They always shared a very special bond with each other. Cindy, Debie’s older sister, also shared a close bond with Debie. She helped care for her driving and attended countless appointments and hospital stays. She too picked up and moved back across the country to provide love and support to her little sister. Some of her fondest memories were shopping, riding cable cars and singing Christmas carols in San Francisco. She had the very best support system with her family being so close.

Debie was preceded in death by her mother Eva Ulibarri, her father Gordan Haggin, her daughter Kelley Dawn Eyerly, and her first husband Butch Yates.

Debie is survived by Triniti and Anthony Ponnay, Ierly, Brailey and Grayson Ponnay. Amy Daniels, Damien, Bella and Josiah. Ashley & Matt Matheney, Cadence, Kennedy and Chance, Laura Ann, Rosie Eyerly and her husband, Chet Edeline. Her siblings Sharon, Cindy, Bob, Lark, Don, Mike, Terri (who recently passed).

Family and friends are invited to come celebrate a life well lived on February 6, 2022 at 2 p.m. at the Jacoby Storehouse, 791 Eighth St., Arcata. It is located on the 2nd floor in front of the Plaza Grill. Please bring your favorite memory and your sense of humor.