Oakdale-Funeral service for Deborah "Debbie" Louise Levron, 61, will be held on Sunday, July 22, 2018 at 2 p.m. at First United Pentecostal Church. Rev. Tim Kelley and Rev. Donnis Ashworth will officiate. Burial will follow in Resthaven Cemetery under the direction of Ardoin/Allen Parish Funeral Home of Oakdale.

The family will receive visitors at Ardoin/Allen Parish Funeral Home of Oakdale on Saturday, July 21, 2018 from 2-8 p.m. Visitation will resume on Sunday at First United Pentecostal Church from 12 p.m. until time of funeral.

Deborah Louise Levron was born to Herbert John and Betty Louise Levron on December 22, 1956, in New Orleans, LA. Better known as, Debbie or Debbie-Lou, she was the first of four daughters. It was immediately obvious Debbie was special in more than just the typical first-born status way.  Debbie was born with arthrogryposis multiplex congenital, or in plain English, it was more about what she was born without, certain muscles and joints in her arms, hands, and legs. She would require 16 surgeries before the age of 12.

When Debbie was about 9 years old, the family relocated to Oakdale to be closer to a school that specialized in offering a learning environment conductive to someone with Debbie's physical needs. Shortly after the move, Betty and her daughters started attending the Pentecostal church. Betty found a deeper experience with God there and desperately wanted to share it with her husband. However, Herbert was resistant for a little while until one Saturday evening, he stated he was going to church with them, and most of you know the rest of the story. In a conversation with Debbie a few years back, she said she often wondered if she wasn't born with her condition just for the purpose of her family getting to know God in a deeper way. And if so, she was glad. Not only did Debbie never once give off one hint of bitterness for the hand she was dealt, but she even expressed gratitude for what good it brought.
As a result of the many pins, bone grafts, and muscle transplants, Debbie was able to walk, however belabored. But for years, walk Debbie did. It was only the last 7 years or so of life that Debbie allowed herself a little rest and took to using a motorized chair. Some feared it was bad for her because she was no longer getting the exercise she once got. But who are we kidding? Did anyone on the outside looking in know what 55 years of struggle to simply move from point A to point B was like? No. Those on the outside could well have thought the struggle much lighter than the reality because Debbie never ceased to have a smile plastered on her face.
In addition to walking with her fused leg joints, Debbie also used her hands. Oh, did she ever use her beautiful shriveled little hands. For decades, she would make beautiful beaded Christmas ornaments and cross stitch works of art for friends and family. Not the kind of cross-stitch that comes color-coded. The kind that started with an absolutely blank piece of fabric and required the counting of stitches and months of dedication. Each piece represented a labor of love. She even had one sent to First Lady Barbara Bush who graciously accepted. When the great nieces and nephews started arriving, Debbie started crocheting blankets. Along with her artistic talent, Debbie also earned a Clerk Typist degree from Community Technical College and worked at the Bank of Southwest in Oakdale. In addition to holding secular employment, Debbie volunteered much of her time and energy at her church. She helped in Sunday School classes, in the church kitchen with lunches, and made phone calls to get volunteers to bake cakes for Meals on Wheels and other fundraisers. In her early adult years, she sang in the choir and played the tambourine.
Always moving. Someone with so many reasons, not excuses, to just sit, never stopped moving. Small in stature, weak in body, large in spirit, a giant in the faith.

Those left to cherish Debbie's memory include her parents Herbert Levron and stepmother, Betty Levron; and three sisters, Susan Whistine and husband, Terry, Suzette Ashworth and husband, Donnis, and Theresa Whatley and husband, Gary.

Debbie is preceded in death by her mother, Betty Turlington Peters Levron.