Deborah Susan Sisson October 24, 1949 - April 1, 2024

Deborah Susan Sisson was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, on October 24, 1949. Debbie lived a typical childhood in the south: she enjoyed catching lightning bugs with her brother, learning the art of making a flaky batch of biscuits and hot heaping servings of fried chicken, and, on occasion, she helped her neighbors process the tobacco harvest. Debbie’s family lived in North Carolina until she was in the sixth grade when they moved to Jacksonville, Florida. There she graduated from Nathan Bedford Forrest High School, and she met her husband, Bryan Dean Sisson, who was stationed at the Cecil Field Naval Base. They met at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints ward building in the area. The two courted and chose to drive all the way across the country to the Salt Lake Utah Temple to be sealed for time and all eternity on a cold winter’s night, January 20^th, 1969. Their temple sealing marked the beginning of her big adventure of raising a family of eight children.

Life took Debbie on many cross-country moves, she began her married life in Jacksonville, Florida, and later moved to Tennessee, Virginia, Texas, Massachusetts, Florida (again), and finally, to Utah where they moved several times in the state. With each move, Debbie made friends with her southern charm and always strove to set up each home with care and love, even when the homes were a bit unconventional. Debbie was a kind and generous person who was fiercely loyal to her family and friends. She served others selflessly through lending a listening ear, baking a perfectly raised loaf of wheat bread, or making a steaming pot of chicken and dumplings. Cooking and baking were one of her many talents, she also loved making various crafts, gardening, and took up knitting later in life with great success.

Debbie was not one to sit at home—she enjoyed going on adventures and exploring all the sites and points of interest in each of the new places that she lived. If she wasn’t leading her family through the Saturday chores, then she was out and about finding a new place to take her family. Sandy beaches, majestic green mountains, rocky red deserts, art museums, science museums, historical sites, quaint New England villages, and of course, shopping malls—Debbie loved to explore, and made special efforts to expose her children to new experiences. She also cherished the time she spent going out to lunch and shopping with her children and friends. Debbie served in many capacities in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints over the years: Relief Society president and teacher, Young Women’s advisor, and compassionate service leader and many more. She went back to school at the age of 50 to earn a bachelor’s degree from Utah State University in 2011.

She is survived by her children, Jason Allen Sisson (wife Marlene), Aaron Dean Sisson (wife Charlene), Nathan David Sisson (wife Anna), Rebecca Ann Gutke (husband Scott), Susan Elizabeth Wade (husband Jason), Sarah Jane Rollo (husband Jeffrey), Bonnie Kay Johnson (husband Daniel), thirty-two grandchildren, and eight great grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her husband, Bryan Dean Sisson, her mother Blanche Elizabeth Swinson, her father Charles Martin Denning Sr., her siblings, Elizabeth Ann Josephs, Charles Martin Jr. (Buddy), David McKay Denning, and her son, Paul Edward Sisson.

Family and friends may pay their respects at the funeral services held at 12:15 PM on April 6^th in the LDS Meeting House located on 870 E Canyon Road, Spanish Fork, Utah.