Deborah Kay Springer

Deborah Springer’s Life
Debbie was never at rest. That was something she just could not do.
Debbie was born August 20, 1956, in Corpus Christie, Texas to Wilbur (Bill) and Mary Case nee Pelca. Shortly after they moved to Draper Utah where she grew up. She was involved in many extra-curricular activities in high school and even started in fashion design, making several of her own dresses. She became an accomplished seamstress and sewed her own wedding dress.
She largely put herself through college, studying at BYU in Provo. She reached her junior year before marrying a freshman and pausing her education to support him through school and to have their first two children.
The family moved to Endicott New York after her husband’s graduation in 1983, marking her first time away from her home in Utah. She soon faced the challenge of raising her children far from family and preparing her children for church alone each Sunday, as her husband was often busy with church meetings. Despite the trials, she was never late for church.
She arrived in Tucson in 1992, with five children. Determined to finish her degree, she juggled raising her kids, being pregnant with her sixth child, and studying. Sixteen years after her last college class, she earned her Bachelor of Science degree and attended her graduation at BYU Provo with a three-month-old baby in tow.
Once her youngest child started school, she felt the need for more to do and became a teacher, going back to school again to earn teaching certificate. She chose teaching so that she’d be home when her children were. She taught biology at Mountain View High school in Tucson for many years. Many of her students still remembered her long after their graduation.
Debbie was very involved in family history work for most of her life. She started family history work in earnest before she was married. Initially it involved interviewing family, writing letters, collecting papers, and searching through microfiche. She made a lot of progress despite the technology. As technology advanced the number of names she found grew greatly. By the time she was teaching high school, she dedicated most of her spare time to family history, often working late into the night after having taken care of her family and her schoolwork. She found and connected hundreds of thousands of names to their families.
The dedication of the Tucson Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in August of 2017 precipitated her decision to retire from teaching. She retired two months before the dedication. After that temple work and family history became her fulltime occupation. Debbie was at the temple every day from the day it opened except for a few days away for family. After a short while she also became an ordinance worker.
Debbie then decided to get a third degree from BYU Independent study in family history work. On graduating, although qualified to be a professional genealogist except for certification, she pursued the degree to improve her own research.
Then she decided to also be a church service missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, serving as a Family Search consultant, assisting others through the FamilySearch help line. Her days were filled with temple service in the morning, church service in the afternoon, and family history work in the evenings.
In July of 2023 she suffered from compression fractures in two of her vertebrae. This disabled her and she was only capable of minimal movement with much pain. She was no longer able to attend the temple or serve as an ordinance worker, which broke her heart. On occasion she decided she felt well enough to endure the pain to attend the temple though her husband seldom agreed with her assessment. With much help she’d struggle to get herself ready and would have to be taken in a wheelchair, and she would usually require several days to recover.
In January of 2024 she was diagnosed with Myeloma. She struggled in constant pain through the difficult treatment for seven months. As she was able to move less and less, she found new ways to keep busy, crocheting and knitting things for her great grandchildren since by this time there would be no more grandchildren. She finally succumbed on July 18, 2024, passing quietly in her sleep.
Though she accomplished much in her life her family was most important to her. She was happiest when she had a house full of grandchildren running around causing havoc and making all kinds of noise. For every child and grandchild, she made blankets, burp cloths, booties, and other items. She never stopped raising her children. She was the one they wanted to talk to when they called home. She loved all her grand babies. The sign in her house said, “Grandchildren welcome, leave parents at home”.
Debbie is survived by her husband, James Alan (Jim), and her children Sarah Christine, Diana Marie, James Alan, David Michael, and Patricia Mae Springer. She was preceded in death by her daughter Julie Renee.