MILFORD – Deborah Carney died Sept. 5, 2011, after a brief bout with cancer. She was 62 years old. Her family settled in Maine before the Revolutionary war, so, although born in Boston, she always thought she had moved back home. Deb was the oldest child of the late Robert and Charline Carney.
Deb held a Master of Divinity and a Doctorate of Ministry from Bangor Theological Seminary. She graduated with academic honors and was the first recipient of the G. Wayne Glick Award for Community Involvement. Her doctoral work focused on the needs of the church to include people with intellectual disabilities in the life of the congregation. She worked for many years with children and adults with deafness while living in the Greater Boston area. After moving to Maine, she volunteered as the chaplain of the deaf at AMHI and then as the rehabilitation counselor with the deaf there. She then began a long career at Penobscot Valley Industries, Bangor, pushing for creativity and challenging experiences for all these program participants. Deb then went to work for Commonsense Housing, Inc., Eddington, where she had been for the past 10 1/2 years. Her passion was always instrumental in her work with those facing the challenges imposed upon them by the community at large and through accidents of birth. She was a member of St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church, Brewer. She served on the vestry until forced to resign due to illness. She was also a member of the Outreach Committee at St. Patrick’s. She was a lay Eucharistic minister as well as a Eucharistic minister at church. She loved her home at St. Patrick’s. Deb was also involved in many community activities. She was on the board of Mabel Wadsworth Women’s Health Center. She was on the National Disabilities Coalition for United Church of Christ. She was very active in the gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgendered activities in Maine, especially in Bangor. She served on the Charlie Howard 25th Anniversary celebration. Deb designed the monument that now commemorates the death of Charlie Howard, which sits next to the Kenduskeag Stream in downtown Bangor. She was also a member of the Penobscot County Speaker’s Bureau for Equality Maine. Deb wrote several chapters in “Defining Sexual Ethics.” She also presented at the American Academy of Religion in Nashville, as well as the AAMR in Washington D.C. An avid sports fan, she loved the Red Sox and Patriots, she loved to fish and play golf, or as she would put it “chase the little white ball around the golf course.” In her younger days, she coached tennis and taught horseback riding. Deb had many loves: the church and her work at Commonsense Housing and Fleur-de-Lis Camp, Fitzwilliam, N.H. She took great pride in there being a Carney at the Fleur-de-Lis since 1958.
She is survived by her life partner, Claudia C. Barnett, better known as Twig; her brother, David and his wife, Lauren, and their children, Mitchell, Robert Jerome and Emma, all of Hancock, N.H.; and her sister, Nancy Carney and her husband, S. Warren Hall, of Fitzwilliam, N.H. She was predeceased by her sister, Wendy, in 2007. In addition to immediate family, Deb leaves behind cousins from all over the world: New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the United States. She also leaves behind many friends and colleagues whom she loved and cherished with all her heart.
A memorial service will be held 2 p.m. Friday, Sept. 9, at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church, 21 Holyoke St., Brewer, with the Rev. Ann Kidder, rector, officiating. Interment will be private at Pine Tree Cemetery, Brownville Junction. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent to the Activity Fund of Commonsense Housing Inc., 15 Riverside Drive, Eddington, ME 04428. Cremation arrangements entrusted to Hampden-Gilpatrick Funeral Home, 45 Western Ave., Hampden. Messages of condolence and memories may be shared through
www.hampdengilpatrick.com.