Deborah Ann Nixon (nee Shaw)
Thursday June 12, 1952 – Saturday July 23, 2022
Deborah Ann Nixon was welcomed home by her Lord and Savior on Saturday July 23, 2022. She passed away unexpectedly after recently undergoing hip replacement surgery. With all our love, and wonderful memories we must say goodbye for now.
Deb was born in Brampton Ontario, the eldest daughter of Irwin (predeceased 2016) and Doreen Shaw (nee Ferrier). She grew up in a loving home with her parents and sister, Susan, attended the primary school at the end of her street, and lived just one street apart from her childhood-sweetheart, and kindergarten classmate, Tom (predeceased 1989), who became her husband on June 24, 1972. She loved playing with the neighbourhood kids in her big backyard and was often recruited to be the “frog and snake watcher” by the boys because the other girls were too afraid.
Deb loved reading and study and got her first job at the Brampton Public library when she was 12 years old. She graduated from Central Peel Secondary School with honours. She loved track and field in high school and considered becoming a physical education teacher. However, she made the decision to instead get married and focus on being a stay-at-home mom. After marriage, she worked briefly at a car dealership before giving herself wholeheartedly to loving and raising her 3 children, Melissa, Shawn, and Kyle. Deb was a passionate supporter of women and mothers and volunteered for many years as a La Leche League instructor and also became an advocate for home-birth and midwifery. She was one of the pioneers advocating for and having a home-birth in Cambridge in 1982.
Deb was known as the neighbourhood mom and it was common to find many neighbourhood kids in her yard playing. She also ran a home day-care for a time.
Although, growing up in a Christian home, Deb considered herself an atheist in her young adult years. However, as a young mom, after nearly dying from a ruptured appendix, she came to recognize the reality of God’s loving presence in her life and in the world and devoted herself to following the way of Jesus. She was passionate about her faith, about studying Hebrew, and her trips to Israel were among her life highlights.
Deb became a widow, at 36 years old, when her husband, Tom, died by suicide. At this time, she courageously supported her children through this loss, went back to school, and re-entered the workforce outside the home. She first worked providing home-care support through Para-Med and then became a long-time employee at Cambridge Memorial Hospital as a unit aide and later clerk until her retirement in 2017. Deb was dearly loved at the hospital where her kindness, humour, empathetic listening, shortbread cookies, and gentle sharing of her faith drew others to her.
Deb had a mission to encourage others and to share her faith. She wrote countless cards, letters, emails and texts (often with creative clippings, jokes, stickers and emojis). She had a “gift of shopping”. She loved giving gifts and could somehow find the perfect item to express what she wanted to communicate. She always had warm hands and her gentle touch brought comfort to many.
Deb loved books and movies and had one of the most highlighted, notated, and sticky-noted Bibles around.
She was a painter and writer; spending nearly 400 hours on a special floor mural in her home in Paris. She had several tattoos and enjoyed turning her music up loud. She was a cuddler of cats and nurturer of human souls. She enjoyed flavoured black coffee, good wine and sharing both with her friends.
She loved her family and friends with every ounce of her being. She was an exceptional listener and conversation partner. She took time to really get to know everyone she met. She practiced self-reflection, was willing to confess her mistakes, and always sought to foster loving relationships. Her visits and calls with family never ended without saying “I love you”.
Deb is survived by her mother, Doreen Shaw (Ferrier); her children and their spouses (her children at heart) Melissa Richer (Adam), Shawn Nixon (Jen), Kyle Nixon (Carmen), her grandchildren Eliana, Eden, Luke, and Liam Richer, Blake and Cohen Nixon, and Logan and Lyla Nixon. Her sister Susan McClure (Robert), her nephew Ryan (Kassie) McClure and niece Michelle (Reese) Davies and their children.
She was pre-deceased by her father, Irwin Shaw and her husband Tom Nixon.
Deb’s family will receive visitors and friends at Corbett Funeral Home, 95 Dundas Street North, Cambridge, Ontario on Tuesday August 2, 2022 from 2-4 pm and 7-9 pm.
A funeral service to mourn our loss and to celebrate Deb’s life will take place on Wednesday, August 3, 2022 at 11:00am In the Funeral home Chapel.
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Deborah Ann Nixon Shaw Saturday July 23rd 2022..
Death notice for the town of: Cambridge, Province: Ontario