Deborah Pyle-Lawson

With a warm smile and a huge heart, Deborah Pyle-Lawson lived a life rich in family. Deborah was loving, playful, and caring. She had a great sense of humor and was a kid at heart. Her family was her heart's delight, and nothing pleased her more than sharing time with those she so deeply loved. A cherished wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and friend, Deborah will long be remembered and so dearly missed.

A time of innovation, the year 1957 found the U.S. economy booming. The need for consumer goods grew as manufacturing attempted to keep up with demand. It was the peak of the "baby boomer" era and a time when families prayed, played, and sat at the dinner table together. American Bandstand made its debut while Elvis Presley recorded numerous hits, and the introduction of the Frisbee and Tonka Trucks became the delight of children everywhere. It was a time centered on family and hope. Nowhere was their greater hope than in the hearts and home of Robert and Rosemary (Merchant) Dean as they welcomed their daughter Deborah to their family on February 13 in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

The third of the four Dean kids, Deborah, enjoyed the good company of her older siblings, Bob and Jo, and her younger sister, Cheryl. Deborah's father worked in construction, and her mom worked at Allen Test Products. While growing up in the Parchment area, Deborah enjoyed riding her bike and liked to go to nearby Kindleberger Park with her friends.

Though she didn't enjoy being a student, after graduating from Kalamazoo Central High School in 1975, Deborah's first job was driving a school bus at age 18. She later secured a job with the custodial staff at the Kalamazoo State Hospital, where she worked for more than 30 years before retiring. The job at the state hospital paid the bills, but she really enjoyed being an Avon representative. She enjoyed meeting other women and helping them feel beautiful both inside and out with Avon products.

While working at the state hospital, Deborah met Ivan Lawson. After dating for a time, the pair married. Though their 36-year marriage ended in divorce, over the years they enjoyed many good times together and enjoyed many activities such as camping and going to the Galesburg Speedway. Their marriage also gifted Deborah three beautiful children. Matt, Jennifer, and Brian were the centers of her world, and as a mom, she was pretty laid back and fun-loving. She was just like one of the kids when it came to having fun.

Deborah loved to go to Turtle Lake Campground in Beulah, Michigan. It was a fitting place for her as she adored and had a collection of turtles. These turtles were anything from drawings to ceramics to stuffed animals. She just adored the cute little reptiles. She loved the water, fishing, and swimming whenever she could. Deborah also found a lot of enjoyment from TV sitcoms, the news, and her favorite shows, The Young and the Restless and Wheel of Fortune. She tolerated Jeopardy. Her favorite foods were seafood, especially crab and shrimp, meatloaf, and sweets. She was a longtime Mountain Dew fan, and even after becoming diabetic later in life, she still enjoyed her sweets and diet Mountain Dew. When it came to music, Deborah enjoyed 90s Country, especially the classic songs by Shania Twain, Garth Brooks, and the Dixie Chicks.

After divorcing, a friend introduced Deborah to Ben Pyle. They dated for a couple of years and were married on August 23, 2018, at the Van Buren County Court House. She and Ben liked to go to the Casino and yard sales, watch TV, and just being together as a couple. Deborah liked to shop and could spend countless hours simply roaming stores or browsing catalogs. In quieter times, she liked to crochet.

When her grandchildren arrived, Deborah found her bliss. She loved babysitting and spoiling them with love and gifts. She had a huge hand in raising them and joyfully participated in their lives. When she started dialysis three times a week in 2020, she often scheduled her appointments around her grandchildren's lives. As with her children, she taught her grandkids about gardening and the importance of mindfully tending to things around the house. She had great common sense and a knack for being aware of things that were often overlooked by others.

Fondly nicknamed "Worm" for her masterful skills at worming her way out of situations, whether good or bad, Deborah usually got her way. She also had an especially keen sense of smell and was known to be able to identify what she was smelling correctly. Whether a gas leak down the street or anything bad in the fridge, she always knew what was going on long before anyone else.

A woman who led with her heart, Deborah lived life to the fullest. She knew how to have fun and inspired love and laughter wherever she was. As we gather to honor her life, may we find much comfort in our many cherished memories and in the honor of carrying her fun-loving legacy forward. In every moment we play with abandon, tend to the garden, prioritize family, and have an adventure with our sweetheart, we keep Deborah's spirit and memory alive and inspiring others as she so inspired us.

Deborah Pyle-Lawson died on Thursday, March 7, 2024. Members of her family include her husband, Ben; 3 children, Matt Lawson, Jennifer Lawson, and Brian (Crystal) Lawson; and grandchildren, Evan Lawson, Chase Lawson, and Jacob, who passed away on December 16, 2022. She was also preceded in death by her parents and her brother, Bob Dean, in 2016. Other surviving members of her family include her sisters, Jo Dean and Cheryl (Steve) Smalley; Ben's children, Susan (Timothy) Ross, Benjamin Pyle, and Stacey Pyle, as well as other nieces and nephews. Cremation has taken place, and Life Story Services will be held at 4 pm on Friday, March 15, 2024, at the Betzler Life Story Funeral Homes, 6080 Stadium Drive, Kalamazoo (269) 375-2900. A reception where food, drinks, and stories will be shared will be held immediately following the service in the Life Story Center. Visit Deborah's webpage at BetzlerLifeStory.com to archive favorite memories and photos and sign her guestbook. Memorial contributions may be made to Bronson Children's Hospital.