Debra Hartle

Debra Jeanne Hartle, age 61, became an eternal spirit on October 6, 2016.
Debra was shaped by the ocean breeze after growing up in San Diego, California where she enjoyed photography class and working at the Hotel Del Coronado. She married Dan when they were both 18, spending fourteen years enjoying the sun of the Southern California before moving to Tennessee. There, they both designed and built the house of their dreams in Castalian Springs. She spent the next 20 years winning the unofficial title of Best Mother and Wife Ever, serving as a Boy Scout leader, soccer mom, and avid supporter of agriculture education, earning the Honorary State FFA Degree. She then returned to the workforce to educate others through 4-H and the Sumner County School System.
She was a skilled seamstress and jewelry maker with an interest in geology. Nature was her church. She was a bird watcher and lover with an impressive feather collection and a flock of spoiled exotic chickens. She had a thirst for knowledge, reading hundreds of books in her lifetime. She loved Star Trek, Combat!, and Star Wars. The music of Rush was the soundtrack of her life. She was fearlessly fashionable, complete with curled hair, bold lipstick, and painted nails.
She is preceded by her parents Albert and Dorothy Belcher, and her favorite friend Liz Miller, who greeted her at the gates of Heaven with a glass of wine. Holding down the fort here on Earth is her husband of 43 years, Daniel, who will raise a glass to her each night as he watches the sunset, her daughter Jessie (Shane), her epic road trip buddy and best friend forever, her son Danny (Amanda), who will continue to rock out at Rush concerts in her memory, her honorary son Marsallis, who always gave her the best hugs, and the other family members she joyfully collected along the way.
A celebration of her life will be held on Saturday, October 15. Friends are welcome to come by between 12-3pm to visit and share in the joy of knowing her. The gathering will be held at Crestview Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens, 1623 Highway 109 N, Gallatin, TN 37066.
Memorial donations can be made to the TN FFA Foundation, Box 5034, TN Tech University, Cookeville, TN, 38505.