Deborah Jean Deehring Coonts of White Sulphur Springs passed away peacefully on the evening of Feb. 1, 2025, at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital in Roanoke, VA.
Deb was born in Chicago on Nov. 13, 1949, the second child of Russell and LaVera Deehring, both of whom are of course deceased. Her family spent her first two years in Barrington, IL, then moved farther out the northwest commuter corridor to Arlington Heights, where she attended public schools. Upon Graduation, she spent three years at the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh, then her senior year at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. She married Larry Krueger after college and they moved to Colorado Springs.
Although she was a certified secondary school teacher, she loathed teaching and got a masters in counseling at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, then taught counseling courses at Colorado Springs Community College. Deb wasn’t happy with that career choice either. She began buying and renovating homes, ski area condos and second homes, a career in which she succeeded magnificently. She kept it up until the collapse of the housing market in 2008. She was the master of “fix and flip” before there was “fix and flip.”
Mr. Krueger and Deborah divorced; in 1980 she married Dennis Hartley, a criminal defense lawyer. That marriage ended in 2009. As Deborah Hartley, she wrote a children’s book, Up North In Winter, which was published by E.P Dutton in 1986. The illustrations were done by Lydia Dabcovich. The success of that literary adventure was so unexpected that Deborah never attempted another. Long out of print, the book is still available in the used book market on-line.
Deborah served on the boards of many nonprofits. She served 17 years on the board of Aspen Pointe, the six-county provider of mental health services in the Colorado Springs area. She even served a term as chairman of that board. She and her friend, the late Becky Hurley, created Pasta in the Park and followed it up a few years later with Rocking the Sixties, both fundraisers for Silver Key Senior Services in Colorado Springs.
She is survived by her brother Dr. Randall Deehring of Avon, OH, daughter Erin Clements and son Patrick Hartley, as well as two grandsons, Hunter and Brendan Rosson, and her husband, novelist Stephen Coonts, whom she married in September 2011. Deborah was the best thing that ever happened to Steve. Her passing leaves a huge hole in his life, as it does to all those who loved her.
A Celebration Of Life for Deborah will be held at First Presbyterian Church of White Sulphur Springs on Saturday, Feb. 15, at 2 p.m. with The Rev. Mr. Frank Naglic officiating.
The family will receive friends from 1 p.m. until time of services on Saturday at the church.
