June 15, 1959 – May 17, 2026

Deborah was born in Saint Alban’s, Vermont.  She moved to Amherst, New Hampshire at a young age, where she attended grade school.  She was an athletic child, swimming on the Jasper Valley Swim & Tennis Club’s swim team and playing tennis for Milford High School, where she graduated in 1977.  She went on to graduate from Plymouth State College with a degree in art.

Deb also spent her youth and adult life at her family’s cottage on Point Connett in Mattapoisett, MA, where she enjoyed the ocean.

Deb had a love for animals, and all were drawn to her.  Wherever she lived, she always had a special cat or two to love and cherish.  They were one of her great joys. She was an avid reader and spent many an hour curled up with a cat and a book.

Deb had a gentle soul and a wanderlust.  Shortly after graduating college, she decided to go west.  She drove a 1961 Buick Special from New Hampshire to California.  She ended up in Los Angeles, where she lived from 1977 to 1999.  There she worked as a graphic design artist and painted on her own.  She started painting ceramics. She found it very satisfying and turned it into her own business.  Her specialty was very vibrant-colored sunflowers, birds, and fish.

Eventually, Deb came back east.  She lived in New Bedford, MA for a while, moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico for a few years, and lived the last part of her life in Belfast, Maine.  She loved the ocean, and other than her short time in Santa Fe, she always lived near it.

Deb was stricken with Frontal Lobe Dementia a couple of years ago.  The disease took away most of her abilities; first her speech, then her body.  She died at her brother’s home in Lisbon, NH with grace and ease.  Her beautiful and infectious smile was with her to the end.

Deb was predeceased by her parents, Carleton Everett Cook and Nancy McLean Cook.  She is survived by her sister Cathy Gibbons (Sean) of Newport, NH, brother Robert Cook (Katrine Barclay) of Lisbon, NH, her niece Katie McCarthy (Eric Brown) of Claremont, NH, Aunt Janet Zetterberg, of Dover, NH, Aunt and Uncle, Arthur and Alberta McClean of Mattapoisett, MA, and cousins Jennifer Kaiser (David) of Mattapoisett, MA, and Sarah McLean Loomis (Jason) of Sarasota, FL.

If you would like to do something in memory of Deb, put down your devices and shut off the TV.  Draw, color, or paint on paper, wood, rocks, or an old door in the shed using a pencil, crayons, or paints.  Create a sunflower in Deb’s memory; enjoy the moment.  It’s FUN!