Memorial services for Debra Jo (Bunch) Hanlon of Omaha, NE and formerly of Chadron, NE, will be at 10:00 AM on Thursday, July 7, 2016 at Chamberlain Chapel in Chadron, NE.
Burial will be at the Crawford Cemetery.
A memorial has been established. Donations may be sent to Chamberlain Chapel, PO Box 970, Chadron, NE 69337.
Debby passed away on June 9, 2016 in Omaha, NE. She was born June 24, 1952 in Chadron, NE. She was raised on her parent’s wheat and cattle ranch near Crawford, NE. Debby attended and graduated from Crawford High School. She continued her education at Chadron State College and married Robert (Butch) Hanlon on August 6, 1971.
Debby and Butch made their first home in Omaha, where Butch was attending medical school. Nathan Shane was born there in 1973. After completing Butch’s internship in Kalamazoo, MI, they began their post-education life in Loup City, NE where Sara Marie was born in 1975. That same year they moved to Crawford, NE and subsequently in 1978 to Chadron, NE, where Butch joined the Chadron Medical Clinic. Here, James Robert (Skip) was born. Debby finished her business degree at Chadron State College in 1982. In 1997, she earned her Master’s degree in Business Administration and utilized her education by teaching at CSC for a few years.
Even while she pursued her education, she maintained her focus on being a mother and wife. In addition, she served her community as a member of the Chadron Public Schools Board of Education and Chadron Economic Development board. A devoted PEO member, she also served on the PEO Home Board out of Beatrice, NE.
On September 20, 2002, Debby was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. She would face and deal with cancer as she did everything else in life – she organized. Her faith helped her to remain positive, and she shared that positive attitude and love of the Lord with others.
In 2003, Butch and Debby moved to Omaha, NE. Debby fought her disease into remission and had seven years of enjoying her family and traveling. In 2011, her disease recurred. Once again, her love of life and family and her faith assisted her in confronting her disease until she could fight no more. She passed from this life in the arms of her husband on June 9, 2016.
Debby conveyed to her family and friends that we shouldn’t feel sad as we would be together again “in the blink of an eye.”
Debby was preceded in death by father James Bunch. She is survived by mother Alyce Bunch; husband Butch; sons James Robert “Skip” (Sara) Hanlon and Nathan Shane (Tammy) Hanlon; daughter Sara Marie Hanlon; sister Vicki Wasserburger (Jake); and grandchildren Lily, Violet, Tyler and McKinley Hanlon.
Chamberlain Chapel of Chadron is in charge of arrangements for Debra Jo (Bunch) Hanlon.
