She was born in Ware, Massachusetts, on Sept. 20, 1951, a daughter of Stanley and Pauline (Stokosa) Baker. Debbie attended schools in Springfield, Massachusetts, and graduated in 1969 from High School of Commerce. In 1970, she graduated from Springfield Technical Community College as a medical assistant.
On Sept. 9, 1972, she married Robert Shaw in Springfield.
She had been employed by Sanford Town Hall as a clerk in Code Enforcement, then as an administrative assistant in Community Development.
She was a member of the Sanford Elks Lodge, where she also volunteered for the weekly bingo games. Some of her interests and hobbies included cooking, reading, gardening and home canning, as well as taking basket classes at Sanford High School.
Family was important to Debbie. A loving wife, mother and grandmother, she also became a surrogate mother to her children’s friends.
Debbie was preceded in death by: her mother, Pauline Baker; and one brother, Stanley Scott Baker.
She is survived by: her husband of 44 years, Robert E. Shaw of Sanford; one son, Jonathan H. Shaw and his daughter Caitlyn Shaw of Marietta, Georgia; two daughters, Kathleen Shaw of Sanford and Carrie M. Meza, her husband Gil and their daughter Aubrey Meza of South Portland; and her father, Stanley Baker and his wife Carmela of Donna, Texas.
A funeral service for Debbie will take place at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Lafrance-Lambert & Black Funeral Home, 29 Winter St., Sanford.
Those planning an expression of sympathy are asked to consider donations in her memory to: Hospice of Southern Maine, 11 Hunnewell Road, Scarborough, ME 04074, or to the Elks National Fund, 13 Elm St., Sanford, ME 04073.
Condolences may be expressed at blackfuneralhomes.com.
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