Debbie Vezzoli Spurgeon

Q: What do you want to be remembered for?
A: Being a good mother; having a quick wit; and being patient.

She makes a mean New York Cheesecake, (BTW - I'm waiting for mine.) has her own cherry and apple trees, and loves to make pies. Her favorite meal is country fried steak, milk gravy, mashed potatoes and lima beans. (Can’t you just hear those arteries clogging??) Yum!

I heard that Deb makes an antipasto to die for that includes pearl onions, celery, carrots, tomato sauce, tuna, anchovies, cauliflower and green beans, and that she won the Blue Ribbon at the Illinois State Fair for her sweet BBQ sauce! Plus, she's a certified food processor.

This will come as no surprise - Debbie loves to cook. If money was not an issue, she’d love to own her own restaurant and would feature down-home country cooking...AFTER using some of the discretionary income to visit Italy, of course.

Debbie has fond memories of her school days and is looking forward to seeing everyone at the reunion. She remembers working at the Diane Dublo family strawberry patch for spending money along with Terry Thornton and Pat Fitzgerald. Does anyone else?

She also worked at the Bethalto Swimming Pool – she was in charge of the Baby Pool. But, more importantly, she met Greg Spurgeon, her hubby-to-be, at the Bethalto Pool.

Debbie and Greg were married in 1973 and together they’ve raised 2 daughters and a son. Victor is their oldest at 30 and works the family business with his father. Debbie says their business motto is “Your crap is our bread and butter.” Can you guess what business they're in???

Debbie’s oldest daughter, Abby, works in construction management and recently moved from High Ridge, MO to Tampa, FL. And, Leslie is a 27 yr. old heart and lung transplant nurse working at Barnes, who lives on part of the family farm near Debbie and Greg. Vic is married and is father to Debbie’s 3 grandchildren: Abigail – 13, Ethan – 5, and Austin – 4. Vic and his family also live in a house nearby on the family farm. Oh, yeah, Greg’s 84-yr. old mother lives in a house that is attached to Debbie and Greg’s ranch-style house off Highway 159 on Paddock Hills Drive. That's 4 family groups living within yards of one another - now, that's a close-knit family!

Side note: Greg’s 84 yr. old mother meets once every 3 months with a couple of people from her high school days and recently saved one lady’s life by giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. (I want a lifelong friend like that!)

Greg did work at Shell Oil for 21 years and 7 years at other refineries before starting the sewer business 5 years ago, and Debbie worked at a dental office to help finance the kid’s dental work!

Debbie has bowled since she was 16 and her average is 130. She happily shared with me that we are now old enough to join the Senior’s league. Uhmmmm - I don't think so. I'm the gal who energetically rips my AARP mail into tiny shreds without ever opening it! But, I do love to bowl so, maybe...

Interesting note: She owns a loom and weaves rag rugs. She’s looking into taking weaving classes to learn more. Does anyone else weave?

She loves to sit with a glass of wine and watch the ducks on the pond. At the time of this writing, which was months ago, Debbie had 3 dogs, but I'm pretty sure she's acquired another one since then.

Debbie is an early riser and is usually up by 4am and crashes by 9pm. But, I bet she stays awake on the night of the reunion with so many stimulating classmates present! Whatdayathink?

Here's a picture of Greg and Debbie a couple of years ago.