Deborah Elaine Gantt Fishel

Deborah Elaine Gantt Fishel passed away December 30, 2024 at her home in Grassy Creek, NC. Debbie was born May 19, 1950 to John Pinkney Gantt and Marjorie Tate Gantt. She adored her mother, who died tragically when Debbie was only 9. Debbie graduated from Freedom High School in Morganton in 1968. From there she attended Gardner Webb University where she majored in Biology and also fell in love. She married Sanford Henry Fishel, III on June 13, 1976. 

Her first job out of college was at the NC School for the Deaf in Hickory and she then became a psychiatric social worker, serving as the director of Davidson County Children’s Services until taking a job with the Eckerd Foundation until 1988. At this point, she gave up her career to pursue her true passion of being a mother and business owner. She worked tirelessly side by side with her husband, building a successful family business from the ground up. 

Debbie could sew, paint, cook, bake, homeschool, lead a Bible study, make and sell chicken pies, garden – anything she set her mind to learn she mastered. She was tenacious. While she was scared of horses herself, her daughters came to love them, and so Debbie also mastered driving back and forth from riding lessons, traveling the country to horse shows, camping in the front of a horse trailer, and making countless memories together as a family. She always said that was her favorite time of life. 

It is impossible to sum up a life in a few paragraphs, especially one like Debbie’s. Her family remembers her devotion to them, her work ethic, and her sacrificial love. She loved the Lord and led her family to follow Him. The lives she touched in the community often comment on how incredible she was, strong, and joy-filled. She was so optimistic and when things went awry she could infectiously laugh her way through anything. She beat cancer and struggled with chronic health issues over her last few years, while her husband, Sanford, was faithful to tirelessly care and provide for her. 

She is survived by her husband Sanford, beloved daughters, Marjorie Fishel McNeill (Todd) and Sarah Beth Fishel Hawke (Teddy), and her grandchildren Henry, Libby Jean, Sarah Lane, Beau Sanford, Will Allen McNeill and Marjorie Halsey Hawke that is due to join us in March. She is also survived by her sister-in-laws who were more often her confidants, Patricia Atkins and Angie Honeycutt, and her brother John Roderick Gantt (Vickie). Though they grieve that she is no longer with them in person, they rejoice that she is pain free, walking with her Savior and joyously reunited with all those who have gone before her. 

Debbie's service will be held at 2:00 PM on Saturday, January 4, 2025 at Friedberg Moravian Church in Winston-Salem, with Rev. Jimmy Newsome and Rev. Dan Nelson officiating. Burial will immediately follow in the church graveyard. The family will receive friends at the church from 1:00 - 2:00 PM prior to the service. 

The family would like to thank Ashe Memorial Hospital, Medi Home Health, Margate Health & Rehab, Ashe Medics, Laci Poe Lewis, Melynda Anders and Martha Mejilla for all their loving care over the years. 

The family requests donations be made in Debbie’s honor to the Samaritan’s Purse Helene Disaster Relief fund, https://www.samaritanspurse.org/disaster/hurricane-helene