Deborah Anne Lambeth

DEBORAH ANNE LAMBETH

             Deborah Anne Lambeth, 62, of Burlington, NC, passed away on Monday, March 29, 2021, with her sister and brother-in-law by her side.

            Deborah grew up in Greenville, NC, where she graduated from J.H. Rose High School in 1976 and earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree from East Carolina University.

            In addition to classical training, she played piano by ear, and could play any request beautifully. Throughout her life she shared her talent with many people in a diverse variety of venues, performing at Musicana Dinner Theaters and the Boca Raton Hotel and Club in Boca Raton, Florida; the Farmhouse Dinner Theater in Blowing Rock, NC; the Grove Park Inn and the Grand Bohemian in Asheville, NC; for receptions and dinner parties held by former Governor Jim Hunt’s administration; and for numerous churches and solo performance concerts. In every city to which her career took her, she found a place to share her gift of music. She also recorded two CDs of her lovely original compositions.

            Deborah’s professional career was as varied and fulfilling as her musical pursuits. She taught music at an elementary school near Charleston, SC. While there, she felt called to provide pastoral care to children and families, so she moved to Louisville, KY, to attend Southern Baptist Theological Seminary where she earned a Master of Arts in Christian Education. During her studies, she served as a CPE Chaplain at Humana Hospital-Audubon. Upon graduation, she did her clinical residency as a Resident Chaplain at Riverside Memorial Hospital in Columbus, OH. Deborah considered it a privilege to help patients find their way through complex situations, and her calming nature, spiritual reflection, and resourcefulness were blessings for people in crisis. Deborah returned to North Carolina to serve as the Resident Manager of the Ronald McDonald House of Chapel Hill and then became the Minister to Families and Children at New Hope Baptist Church in Raleigh. Her love of the Blue Ridge Mountains eventually lured her westward, where she served as a Patient and Family Advocate at Mission Hospitals in Asheville, NC, and MedWest-Haywood in Clyde, NC. She was the pianist for Beverly Hills Baptist Church, where she became an ordained minister. In 2019, Deborah left her beloved mountains and moved to Burlington, NC, to help care for her 95-year-old father during the last year of his life

            Deborah was an avid lover of card games including Skip-Bo and Uno. She was also an expert Scrabble player, a member of Scrabble clubs, and a formidable opponent in Scrabble tournaments.

            She was a people person and enjoyed talking to anyone she met, genuinely interested in getting to know them and learning their perspectives on life. Deborah inspired many with her positive, cheerful outlook and clever sense of humor. Wherever she went, she made friends and never lost touch with them. She spent her life devoted to helping people find joy and contentment in their lives.

            Deborah was fiercely devoted to her family, who will miss her laugh and love every day. She is survived by her brother, Dr. John Lambeth, his wife Menda, and son Nathaniel; her sister, Linda Orlando, and husband Gary; her brother, Stephen, and husband, Matthew Vecera; and several cousins. She was preceded in death by her father, Dr. H. D. Lambeth, Jr, her mother, Virginia Neighbors Lambeth, and her sister, Jennifer Elizabeth “Beth” Lambeth.

            There will be a private family service now, but a celebration of Deborah’s life will be held this summer. She will be interred at Magnolia Cemetery, Elon, NC.

            In her memory, please wear a mask in public and take Covid-19 seriously.

            In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Jennifer Elizabeth "Beth" Lambeth Memorial Scholarship (ecu.academicworks.com).

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