Debra Lane

Debra C. Lane, 66, of 1128 Shannon Lane, Carlisle, Pennsylvania died Friday, August 13, 2021 at 8:38 pm while resting peacefully at home in the company of family and friends. Born Debra Kay Clever, on April 14, 1955 in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, the daughter of the late Raymond D. Clever and Laytha L. (Ficks) Clever, she married Wm. Bryan Lane of Hustontown on October 4, 1975 in Greencastle. In addition to her husband, she is survived by her mother, a brother, Terry Clever (wife Phyllis) of Mercersburg and a sister, Kimberly Clever of Lemasters. Her father, a brother, Rodney Clever of Chambersburg, and an infant grandson, Aiden Scott Lane preceded her in death.

Debbie and Bryan are the parents of two children and grandparents of four grandchildren, all of whom survive, and all of whom were the light of her life: Heather Anne Mathis (husband Russ) of Savannah, Georgia and her two children, Ryan, 10, and Juliette, 8; Matt Lane (wife Pamela) of Raleigh, North Carolina and his two children, Landon, 3, and Evelyn, 9 months.

Debbie was raised in Mercersburg and Lemasters, Pennsylvania, and a 1973 graduate of James Buchanan High School. She worked in the office of WKSL FM 94.3 where she met her future husband and in a number of other businesses including her father’s machine shop, the R.D. Clever Machine Shop in Mercersburg. After marriage and starting a family, Debbie commenced working as a certified nursing assistant at the Cumberland County Nursing Home’s Alzheimer Unit, with whom whose patients she enjoyed caring for and interacting with. In her mid-thirties, Debbie began her quest to become a nurse, all the while continuing work as a CNA, homemaking and raising her children. In 1996, following licensure at age 41, she immediately commenced a 19 year career as an OB-GYN nurse in the Women’s Center of Carlisle Hospital, eventually graduating from the Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

While proficient in all areas of obstetrical nursing, including labor and delivery, Debbie’s delight was working in the newborn nursery. She exhibited a calming influence on frightened young mothers and a comforting solace to the occasionally grieving parent. Until the last month of her life, when as a patient herself, she passionately encouraged, mentored and mothered budding new nurses while displaying respect to employees of every status within the health delivery hierarchy.

In 2001, she was formally diagnosed with carcinoid tumors of the lung, already a stage 4 patient with multiple tumors having previously metastasized throughout her lungs for a number of years. Numerous crises followed as the cancer metastasized throughout her body, and she was stricken with additional cancers of the thyroid and stomach. Thus, it appears she was a stage 4 cancer patient for one half of her married life and perhaps all of her nursing career.

A Service of Death and Resurrection to celebrate Debbie’s life and the resurrection of her risen Lord and Savior will be held on Thursday, September, 2 at 3:30 p.m. in the Carlisle United Methodist Church, 333 S Spring Garden St, Carlisle, PA 17013 with Pastors Jake Waybright and Mira Hewlett presiding. Interment will be at the convenience of the family.

Casual dress is welcomed, and in lieu of flowers, donations in Debbie’s memory to the building fund of the Carlisle United Methodist Church, 333 S. Spring Garden St., Carlisle, PA 17013 or to Speranza Animal Rescue, 12 Brandt Lane, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055 are strongly encouraged. Speranza Animal Rescue is a non-profit, volunteer run rescue, rehabilitation center and sanctuary committed to saving the most abused and neglected animals with a goal of finding loving homes for as many of them as possible.

Arrangements are by SimpleChoice Cremation Services, Inc. 1680 Orchard Drive, Chambersburg, PA 17201.

Online condolences may be expressed at www.simple-choicecremation.com.