Long time Sandy resident Deborah Saxton passed away at home on October 3, 2010, after a tough year-long battle with cancer. She was 56. Deborah has made a lasting impact on many people in the Sandy and Welches communities and certainly will be missed.
A Celebration of Deborah’s Life will be held at 3:00 PM, on Friday, October 8, at Persimmon’s Country Club.
Deborah was born on January 1, 1954 in Butte, Montana to Bill and Mary Ellen Hitchcock. She was never really excited about being a New Year’s baby. She jokingly complained about sharing her birthday with college and NFL football. Deborah attended Holy Savior Elementary School and graduated from Butte Central High School in 1972. Upon graduating, she attended Montana State University to study Art, a passion that lived in her always. After two years at MSU, she received an offer to study Dental Hygiene at the University of Washington Dental School. The lure of the big school and city took her to Seattle where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene in 1976. At that point, she was offered a scholarship to stay at UW to work on a Masters Degree in pathology. She chose to get married instead.
In 1974, while at home for summer break, she met Jim Saxton at a party in uptown Butte. She never really understood her attraction to him. She thought he was grumpy and offish. Jim fell deeply in love, and asked her to marry him. Choosing Jim over graduate school, they were married on August 14, 1976 in Butte.
At the time, Jim was teaching and coaching in Deer Lodge, Montana. Before their marriage, they both agreed that they wanted to live and work in the Northwest, so for their honeymoon, they packed a U-Haul truck and moved to Sandy, where they have lived, worked and raised their family.
Deborah practiced dental hygiene for thirty four years, thirty of which were for Jim Flerchinger at Chinook Falls Dental Clinic. Deborah was extremely proud of her time as a hygienist. She loved her office and patients dearly and it was a very difficult decision to retire.
Deborah and Jim raised two fabulous children, Brian and Beth. She cherished her family and the adventures they had. They spent many weekends skiing Mt. Hood together and loved to vacation in Kauai. When her two grandchildren, Henry and Oscar entered her life, she felt it was her obligation as “Mimi” to spoil them however she could. They were an absolute joy in her life. Deborah lived for her family.
Deborah enjoyed knitting, cooking and collecting art. She loved First Thursday’s Downtown, in Portland where she developed many friendships. Her true love was gardening and landscaping. Her art talent and background spilled over into her yard. She spent hours and hours wandering through nurseries and designing garden areas around the house. She was an amazingly talented lady.
She was preceded in death by her mother, Mary Ellen and father, Bill Hitchcock.
Deborah is survived by her husband, Jim; son and daughter-in-law Brian and Tiffani of Portland and grandsons, Henry and Oscar; daughter Beth in Colorado; sister Liz and brother Mike of Butte, Montana and her brother Dan of Bozeman, Montana.
Deborah was a beautiful person. She will be missed by all of us, but her spirit will live with us forever.
In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to Ronald McDonald House or Doernbecher’s Children’s Hospital.