Debra Sue Humiston (Deb), a beloved wife, mother, friend, nurse, lay minister, storyteller, host, singer, crafter, camper, fisherwoman, hot air balloon crew chief, and unofficial grandmother to many, made a life out of welcoming people in and making them feel like family.

Born in Hot Springs, South Dakota, Deb later made her home in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She married Hank Humiston on October 1, 1977, beginning a partnership filled with family, faith, laughter, adventure, and the kind of love that made room for everyone they gathered along the way.

Deb often described herself as a “bonus baby,” born twelve years after her closest sister. She liked to say she was spoiled first by God, then by her father, and then by her husband. Anyone who knew her knew she returned that love many times over.

As an LPN/RN, Deb cared for people professionally, but caregiving was never limited to her work. She was also a Certified Lay Minister at Mesa View United Methodist Church, where she shared her faith, her voice, and her steady presence. She sang solos at church, weddings, and funerals, offering comfort and joy in the way only Deb could.

She loved people deeply and practically. Deb loved to entertain, told wonderful stories, and never passed up a good laugh. Right up to the end, she insisted on cooking for others and surrounding herself with family and friends during the holidays and, truthfully, just about all the time.

That love of people led Deb to open the Chocolate Turtle Bed and Breakfast, where she gathered some of her funniest stories and plenty of people to share them with. Even when the bed and breakfast closed, her home was never merely a house. It was a refuge, a gathering place, and often a landing spot for anyone who needed somewhere to stay. To Deb, friends were family, and many children of friends came to know her as another grandmother.

One of the more magical things people remember from the Chocolate Turtle was Deb’s relationship with a roadrunner who visited the back porch. She would call to the bird, and incredibly, it would come. Somehow, Deb had a way of making even a wild bird feel welcome.

Deb loved to fish and camp, and she even won a $50 fishing prize. She spent countless hours making items for craft fairs, usually underpricing everything and often leaving with more trades than sales. She loved assembling jigsaw puzzles with whoever happened to

come by, kept coffee ready on early hot air balloon mornings, enjoyed an evening cocktail, and somehow perfected an Orange Julius recipe that tasted like the real thing.

Along with all of this, Deb was Hank’s Crew Chief for their hot air balloon crew. She loved driving the chase vehicle, especially when off-roading, and had an amazing way of keeping a motley bunch of ballooning friends in line—safe, organized, and having far more fun than was probably reasonable.

Deb loved being a mom, though she sometimes worried she wasn’t doing a good enough job. Her children, and the many additional children of friends and family who were gathered into her circle, would heartily disagree. She mothered with humor, food, stubborn care, honest words, and a door that seemed permanently open (don’t bother to knock).

Deb also endured deep sorrow, including the death of her daughter, Randi, one of the hardest chapters of her life. She carried grief with strength, complexity, faith, and love, continuing to show up for others even when life had asked more of her than anyone should have to bear.

She was complex, quick-witted, perceptive, sometimes sarcastic, and wonderfully herself. She was Christian, but not performative about it. She did not tolerate fools, though she was always willing to tolerate friends being foolish. That distinction mattered. It was part of her genius.

Deb will be remembered for her fierce love, her humor, her hospitality, her stories, her practical care, and the way she made people feel claimed. She built family everywhere she went, and the lives she touched will carry her forward.

Deb was preceded in death by her daughter, Randi Humiston-Metoyer, her parents, Clara and Herman Zaugg; her brothers, Gene and Everett Zaugg; and her sisters, Joyce Naugle and Connie Frauendorfer. She is survived by her husband, Hank; her sons, Joshua Humiston and Geoff Metoyer; her grandsons, Ryan, Eric and Gavin Metoyer; her great-granddaughters, Melodie and Perseus Metoyer, nieces and nephews in-laws; and the many, many friends who became family.