Debra R. (Garten) Pedersen passed away on Jan. 15, 2019, after a brief and courageous battle with cancer.

Debra was born on July 16, 1974, in Fort Collins, Colorado.

On Aug. 26, 1995, she married her husband Michael Pedersen of Westport, Washington. They met during firefighter training in Central Park in 1992. Mike and Debra made their first home in Tumwater, Washington, where they both were students at the fire training program through South Puget Sound Community College.

Debra grew up on Puget Island in Southwest Washington where she learned to love animals on the family’s dairy farm. She attended Cathlamet Elementary prior to the family moving to Ocean Shores. Debra attended North Beach High School where she was active in basketball and track. She was also in the explorer program as a firefighter for the Ocean Shores Volunteer Fire Department and attended the Grays Harbor Community College E.M.T. training.

Debra worked for the City of Olympia Parks Department. Both Debra and her husband moved to Alaska and worked outside of Ketchikan at Sportsman’s Cove. Debra enjoyed working outdoors and has been employed in Parks Departments at Redmond, Renton and Maple Valley. Debra spent 14 years at Redmond where she made many friends. Debra recently worked as a cashier at Johnson’s Home and Garden. She loved her job, her co-workers, and especially her customers. Her love for every animal that walked in with their owner was well known. Many of her co-workers stated that all you needed to do was to listen for her gregarious laugh to know where she was in the store. Debra was also hired as a part time maintenance person with the City of Maple Valley working at the Lake Wilderness Lodge. She was known at the lodge for being on time and someone that could be counted on to get the job done. Debra most recently made her way back to the City of Renton. She made an impact on the department almost immediately.

Her humor and work ethic were admired by many. In September, Debra was diagnosed with Metastatic Breast Cancer. She continued to fight through treatment and continued to hike and enjoy the outdoors with the time she had left. She had no idea her time was so short but no doubt made the best of it.

Debra is survived by, her husband of 23 years, Michael Pedersen of Covington, Washington, her sister Barbara Townsend of Anchorage, Alaska and her half-brother Wayne Moore of Puget Island.

She is preceded in death by her dad, Harvey “Earl” Moore of Ocean Shores.

She will be remembered as the gal with the big smile and the great laugh; a person of compassion and a willingness to help a friend in need. Her smile could light up a room and made strangers smile in return. She will be greatly missed by all of her friends, family and co-workers. Smile, laugh, and hike on sweet girl.

Please join her family for a celebration of Debra’s life on Saturday, Feb. 9, at 2 p.m. at Lake Wilderness Lodge, 22500 SE 248th St, Maple Valley, WA. In lieu of flowers Debra wished for donations to be made to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in her name.