Debra Colette Mitchell

Debra Colette Mitchell, 74, passed away in the home she shared with her son and grandson in Fayetteville, North Carolina in the early hours of a snowy morning on January 22, 2025.

Debra was welcomed into this world by the late Mary ‘Melcena’ and A.B. Mitchell, Jr. in Snyder, Texas on June 10, 1950. She spent the majority of her childhood living in Coleman, Texas; worked at a few of Coleman’s iconic businesses (e.g., Owl Drug Store and Shoppin Baskit); and graduated from Coleman High School in 1969.

Some of Debra's fondest childhood memories involved her one sibling, the late Max Duane Mitchell, and their shared love of horses. While Mama was responsible for sewing matching yoke-embroidered shirts for the young rodeo competitors, Daddy trained and transported them to their barrel-racing and mutton-busting competitions around West Texas.

Debra’s friends and family gave her many other names over the years, and they included Debbie, Deb, Sister, Mom, Mother, Ma Bell, MIL, MeMe/MiMi, and Grandma.

Professionally, Debra’s primary career was in property management at various apartment complexes, and she became friends with her tenants, especially the elderly, everywhere she worked. Several of those tenants treated her like family, as she was known to go above and beyond her job duties to ensure their basic needs were met.

Over the years, Debra also welcomed many a hungry soldier into her home to feed them; gave away handmade crafts to her medical providers and hair stylists; knew the bank and post office employees’ names by heart; and could charm the socks off just about any stranger she met with her sharp wit and self-effacing humor.

One of Debra’s favorite hobbies included shopping, as everyone in her life knew well, and a good day to her was hitting her local Wal-Mart, Hobby Lobby, and dollar stores to find deals and craft supplies. At various times, she landed herself in love-hate relationships with QVC, Amazon, etc.

Crafting, floral-arranging, and gift-making for people Debra loved was a passion of hers. Whether she was knitting booties for a great-granddaughter’s dolls or arranging flowers for a granddaughter’s wedding, she treated every creation of hers like it was going to be displayed in The White House.

Debra often could be heard bragging about any one of her family members’ endeavors (whether they were successful or not), and she inevitably involved herself in her loved ones’ passions and events, showing up with her camera to capture their special moments. Her beloved ‘Fried Chicken Sunday’ tradition alone brought her family members together on many occasions.

Debra’s worldly possessions were few, but her stories and memories were epic. She loved to dance and listen to ‘good ole fashioned country music,’ as she called it. She could give you a look that would chill you to the core, then hug you so tight you could not breathe. She had a big heart, with a lot of love to share, but also had a hard, complicated life.

Before she passed away, Debra had been making plans to travel to Texas to visit her cousin, Phyllis Odom, and attend their favorite springtime tradition: Llano Crawfish Open. She also had plans to see two of her 'Snowflake Sisters,' cousins Delores Fenton and Frances Smith, and other family members while the bluebonnets would be at their peak across Texan fields.

Debra had more than one chance to explore the world a bit in her lifetime, and she had fond memories of the years she lived in Germany in the early 1980s and in Italy in the early 2010s. However, for all the places she visited and lived during her lifetime, Texas forever remained home to her, and that is why she proudly called herself ‘an ole Texas gal.’ 

Preceding Debra in death were her parents and her brother (named above), as well as many other beloved family members.

Left to cherish Debra’s memory are her four children: Kaci Fulbright Watson (Terry) and Traci Fulbright Garner (Burton) of Coleman, Texas; Joshua Bell (Anita) of Fayetteville, North Carolina; and Leslie Bell Slovak (Kyle) of Ennis, Texas.

Debra also leaves behind 12 grandchildren: Ben Watson, Tara Bartram (Casey), Brooke Butler (Colby), Amber Radar (Dylan), Laney Fulbright (Pamela), and James Joseph 'J.J.' Murphy (Shila) of Coleman, Texas; Chelsea Prince (Devonte) and Paige Guerrero (Mark) of Odessa, Texas; Isaiah Bell of Fayetteville, North Carolina; and Riley, Blakely, and Brynlee Slovak of Ennis, Texas.

Additionally, she is survived by 12 great-grandchildren and many extended family members.

Cremation arrangements were entrusted to Sullivan’s Highland Funeral Service & Crematory in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Family members plan to hold various celebration-of-life events in North Carolina and Texas, with those dates and locations to be determined at a later time. 

On behalf of ‘an ole Texas gal,’ Debra’s children offer their gratitude to those who have reached out to them with their condolences, kind words, offers of assistance, sweet memories, meals, and more. As Debra would tell you herself, ‘Love you to the moon and back!’