10:00am Service on Saturday, 1/13/07

 

At

 

Our Lady of Lourdes

18400 Kinzie St.

Northridge, CA 91325

 

Memorial Mass

 

Introductory Rites

Prelude  Song: “In This Place”

Gathering Song/ Entrance Procession: “Amazing Grace”

Greeting

Opening Prayer

 

Liturgy Of The Word

Reading by Debbie’s Sister, Brenda Bowen - Old Testament Reading: Ecclesiatses 3: 1-8

 

Responsorial Psalm, Psalm 103: 8, 10, 13-18 “The Lord is Kind and Merciful”

 

Reading by Debbie’s younger Brother Mike Hughes – Timothy 4: 6-8

 

Gospel Acclamation:  “Alleluia” Verse, John 6: 37-40

Gospel read by: Father Jerry O’Keefe

Homily by Fr. Jerry O’Keefe

General Intercessions - Reading by Debbie’s older Brother, Jeff Hughes

 

Liturgy Of The Eucharist

Gift Bearers – Debbie’s Nephew and Niece, Andrew and Emily Bowen

Presentation of the Gifts: “Hail Mary, Gentle Woman”

Eucharist Prayers Sung:

Holy, Holy

Memorial Acclamation

Great Amen

Lamb of God

Our Father: Spoken

Communion Song: “On Eagle’s Wings”

Meditation Song:  “Ava Maria”

Concluding Prayer

Eulogy by Debbie’s Husband, Eric Harlan

Eulogy by Debbie’s Father, Douglas Hughes

Final Commendation:

Final Blessing

 

Sending Forth: “We Are The Light Of The World”

 

Reception will follow at Debbie’s Father-In-Law’s House,

 

Robert and Karen Harlan

23740 Stagg St.

West Hills, CA 91304

 

Maps will be provided

 

 

EUOLOGY

 

JoAnn and Douglas gave birth to their third child, Debbie, on October 5, 1971 at Hope Hospital, Newport Beach, California.  Their first child was Brenda, the second being Jeff, and the fourth being Mike. Debbie attended East Bluff Elementary School, during which time she was active in the Indian Maiden club. She later attended McFadden Middle School. During her high school years at University High, she met many of her friends who kept in touch with her over the years.

 

During those years, Debbie and her family went on many trips to Carpinteria Beach where they would camp out at the beach for a week at a time. Here, Debbie developed her interest in the ocean and beach squirrels. She became known for her amazing squirrel petting talents. They would go to Santa Barbara to window shop, eat ice cream, and always stopped by Santa Claus Village for some candy. They also went on trips to Big Bear where they skied and did a little bit of indoor roller-skating.

 

After high school she went on to Gallaudet University where she studied for two years. She then came back to her home state to study at California State University Northridge. When her mom tragically passed away on August 28^th, 1994, she took a break for one semester and then “turned over a new leaf” and attended the University California Santa Barbara for one semester. Back to CSUN again, she completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Marine Biology.

 

She did have fun during those years where she became more involved with the deaf community (translation: more parties!), attended an outdoor survival/backpacking class, a scuba diving class, marine biology classes requiring many field trips to the California coastline (that had to be brutal), went on camping trips, rafting trips, houseboat trips, snow skiing trips with her friends, got a tan in Hawaii, witnessed her older brother’s wedding in Colorado, went to Europe for a month with all of her friends, went to Madison Square Garden for New Years Eve, had a couple of boyfriends-one of whom she went on to marry.

 

When I came into the picture, Debbie was an adventurous soul who was more than happy to go on more camping trips and ‘real’ vacations. We went a few times to Yosemite, Sequoia National Park, both places where we rafted and camped.  We also went to Seattle to witness one of our friend’s marriage and to see some family. We also went to Colorado, Michigan, Nevada, and Hawaii, to see some more family and to enjoy the locale. In Alaska, we cruised up the coastline and met up with a friend ours in Anchorage and went over to Denali National Park.

 

She also worked too, in between all of her adventures. After graduating she worked for an environmental firm where she did a lot of testing in a lab. Tired of working by herself, she went to work at the National Center On Deafness at CSUN where she worked with a lot of her alumni friends. Then she moved onto substitute teaching for Los Angeles Unified School District and Burbank School District.

 

She became active in extra-curricular activities too. She was a member of Alpha Sigma Theta sorority. She also in ecological concern groups such as Bay Keeper and TreePeople. While waiting for me to get off of work, she would walk the dogs at the dog shelter down the street. She also participated in AIDS Walk and other fundraising activities.

 

Debbie’s spirit and sense of adventure will be sorely missed. We can always look back and know that she did live her life to her fullest, thanks to her positive attitude, good family upbringing, and great friends. I consider myself extremely fortunate that I was able to spend the time I did with her because her imprint on my life will always remain an inspiration to me and she will always be in my heart.

 

Her Loving Husband,

Eric Harlan