Debra Ann Lerten

Beloved wife, sister and friend Debra Ann Lerten passed peacefully into the arms of our Lord at sunrise on Friday, July 31, 2026 at the beautiful Partners in Care Hospice House in Bend, Oregon, after a courageous months-long fight with Stage 4 cancer. She was 71. Debbie was born in Juneau, Alaska on June 20, 1955 to Leo and Sadie (Zastrow) Rosenberger, the youngest of six who grew up in the southeast Alaska community. Debbie graduated from Juneau-Douglas High School in 1973, where she played flute and oboe in the school band. She moved that fall to Forest Grove, Oregon, to attend Pacific University, where she met and for a time was close to her future husband, Barney Lerten, both of whom graduated in 1977. Five years later, Debbie reconnected with Barney, who had returned to Portland’s UPI bureau, and they quickly fell in love. The couple were married on Debra’s birthday, June 20, 1983 at Old College Hall on the Pacific campus – a date they came to call their ‘birthda-versary.’ Debbie and Barney enjoyed 43 years of love, life and laughter, despite her challenging series of health issues over the years. They were not blessed with having children, only a succession of wonderful kitty-cats and good fortune that allowed them to engage occasionally in Debbie’s love of travel. Debbie held a variety of jobs after moving to Bend with Barney in 1991. She also sang in the church choir and played in the handbell choir with her mother at Trinity Lutheran Church before Sadie’s passing in 2015, at the age of 101. She was also active in the church’s Lutheran Women’s Missionary League. Later in life, Barney and Debra attended and viewed weekly online services by First Presbyterian Church of Bend. She loved to cook and bake wonderful dishes and desserts for family and friends, and to knit and crochet, as well as to watch not only an array of favorite TV shows but a parade of great kitties scroll by on social media. Debbie earned a paralegal degree that helped her become a valued colleague and friend at the Law Office of Angela Lee in Bend, where she worked for the last 14 years of her life for Angi and her husband, Kevin Mandlin. Their warm, supportive relationship was something she was immensely grateful for. Debra is survived by brothers Donald Rosenberger of Renton, WA., and Leo John Rosenberger of Mountlake Terrace, WA.; sister Diane Fields of Bend; nieces Nicole DaPron of Yakima, WA., and Angela Karaim of Maple Valley, WA.; and nephews Tim Rosenberger of Clinton, WA., David Rosenberger of Atlanta, GA., Stuart Rosenberger of Boise, ID. and Sarah Rosenberger of Everett, WA., along with several great-nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by brother Jerome Rosenberger of Houston and sister Janet Rosenberger of Keizer. In accordance with her wishes, Debra’s ashes will be spread over the Pacific Ocean. Donations in her honor may be made to the Humane Society of Central Oregon, Bend-Redmond Habitat for Humanity or First Presbyterian Church of Bend. Niswonger-Reynolds Funeral Home was honored to handle the arrangements.

Tributes

Debra Ann Lerten

June 20, 1955 - July 31, 2026