Debby Beaudin, age 73, passed away on July 18, 2022. A visitation will be held from 12 – 1pm and funeral service at 1pm at Ballard-Sunder Funeral and Cremation (833 South Marschall Rd, Shakopee, MN 55379) followed by a Celebration of Debby’s life from 3 – 7 PM on Saturday, July 23 at the Shakopee VFW (1201 3rd Ave E, Shakopee, MN 55379).

Deborah Kay was born on May 19th, 1949 to Donald and Marion (Addison) DeWitt in Mora, MN. One of four siblings, Debby spent her first few years on the family farm before moving to Duluth as a young girl. Dedicated to her faith from a young age, she attended Westminster Presbyterian Church with her family. Together, the DeWitt family also loved to go fishing and spending time at Jay Cooke State Park. As a teenager, she began her love of sewing, baking, and crafts. Debby shared her love for Camp Sigel in Biwabik, MN with her family. She attended it as a child and went on to become a counselor and then camp nurse. Debby graduated from Denfeld High School in 1967 and pursued a career in nursing and eventually working in the field for 20 years.

Shortly after high school, Debby got the name of a young man serving overseas in the Navy from a close friend. She decided to write John Beaudin a letter. They eventually fell for each other through their hundreds of letters back and forth. When they were finally able to see each other in person, they went on a date to the Minnesota State Fair. After only a few dates, John asked Debby’s father for his blessing to marry her in a letter, of course. He then mailed the engagement ring to her brother Dave who sent her on a scavenger hunt to find it. John and Debby were united in marriage on August 23rd, 1969. Shortly after, John was deployed to Antarctica with the Navy, so once again their relationship was put the to test – over a very long distance! They communicated only through HAM radio for the better part of their first year of marriage.

In 1971, John and Debby were finally able to settle in Duluth together and started a family. After their first daughter, Sarah, was born in 1972, John’s work for US Steel moved them to the Iron Range. They built a house in Chisholm in 1973, which they lived in for almost 50 years. After daughters Becky and Marie were born, Debby quit her nursing career to focus on her family. She went on to be a girl scout leader, world’s best school chaperone, a second mom to so many of her kids’ friends, and a best friend to the many special people in her life.

She tried to share her love for camping and fishing with her kids, although after a few encounters with bears, Debby declared that the family was, “Never. Camping. Again. Unless it’s in a cabin.” Debby was also known for her Christmas cookie baking, playing games with friends and family. She was an avid Minnesota Twins fan, like her mother and siblings. Later in her life, Debby was able to extend her travels to places like Disney World, NASCAR races, a Caribbean Cruise and even more exotic places like Paris, Hawaii, and Denmark.

Debby felt blessed to be a grandma and had a special relationship with each of her three granddaughters, Elizabeth, Katie, Marissa. They went to Florida on spring break, spent time in the swimming pool almost daily, read books, and did puzzles together. She passed on many life lessons and always had stories to tell them and their friends. She enjoyed being “Gigi” with her great-granddaughter Aubrey, doing things such as “three marker challenges” and snapchatting. Debby loved shopping for her.

Debby was loving, generous, giving, friendly, chatty, compassionate, and so much more. She will be deeply missed by her daughters Sarah, Becky and Marie; granddaughters Elizabeth, Katie, and Marissa; and her great-granddaughter Aubrey. She is also mourned by her three siblings, Dave DeWitt (Annette), Don DeWitt, Donna (Tom Zimmeth) Mankowski; and many other family members and friends.

She is preceded in death by her husband, John, parents, Donald and Marion, and her very special mother-in-law, Caroline Beaudin.

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