Deborah (Reynolds) Young

Deborah (Reynolds) Young was a vivacious Christian woman who loved her family, fellowship and the friends she made wherever she went. Debbie passed away at her home in Wyoming, Michigan, on Nov. 5, 2018. Born in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1949, Debbie grew up in nearby Clinton, where she attended public schools, made life interesting for her loving parents “Doc” and “Buh” Reynolds, gleefully tormented her little brother, and studied at Mississippi College. It was there that she met fellow art student Charles Raiford Young, III, and they were married. Her beloved daughter Jessica was born, Charles became a minister, and the young family lived in the Alabama towns of Courtland and York while growing to include her son, Stokes. She homeschooled the boy for kindergarten, and one day they went for a walk in the nearby park when a steam locomotive on a sightseeing excursion made a brief stop. With no ticket,  known destination, or ride home arranged, Debbie decided to take Stokes on a fun, impulsive and unforgettable trip. That was typical Debbie—she had an extraordinary ability to have a good time, making memories on the fly and sharing the past with whomever she could in the so-called “real time” of the present. She was, as she often said, a “visual thinker,” and that didn’t mean drawing inside the lines so much as it meant seeing colorful soft-edged shapes unencumbered by any straight lines at all. When Charles went to graduate school, at the University of Georgia in Athens, Debbie continued her studies there, cared for her family, made many friends from around the world, and continued to ferociously guide her kids’ educations. Then a teaching job for Charles led the Youngs to Grand Rapids, Michigan. The winters of the “Great White North” were hard on Debbie, and the whole family had trouble understanding how good, churchgoing families of Dutch origin could overcook spice-free Sunday roasts with such flavorless abandon, and then not even have an old bottle of Tabasco available somewhere to help choke it down. But there were compensations for Debbie beyond the workaround of keeping a capsicum bottle in her purse. She opened her home to many students as a place to gather, talk and eat delicious, flavorful food. Her hospitality was often focused on Calvin College’s international students, and that all-embracing curiosity extended to hers and Charles’ many research and mission trips to places like Istanbul, Paris, Belgrade, Tunis and the Australian Outback. Then Charles suffered a brain hemorrhage that disabled him with constant pain and acute sensitivity to stimuli. For over fifteen years until his death in 2014, Debbie was his courageous caregiver and fierce advocate. In late 2017, Jessica died of cancer, and Debbie’s already immense grief was compounded by the loss of her child. Debbie continued to take solace in her Bible, prayer, and fellowship with her fellow Christians. And she found joy in the time she spent with her two grandsons, in person and on frequent video chats. Debbie is missed and mourned and remembered for all of the very real gifts she brought to her family and broader community of friends. She is survived by her son, Stokes Enley Young; daughter-in-law, Jesamyn “Sam” Go; grandsons, August “Gus” Mella Young and Walter Enley Young of Queens, N.Y.; stepmother, Jimmie Richardson Reynolds of Flowood, Miss.; parents-in-law, Charles Raiford Young, Jr., and Bettie Thornton Young of Smithdale, Miss.; sister, Didi Arfsten of Napa, Calif.; and brothers, E.D. “Chip” Reynolds of Clinton, Miss. and Bruce Reynolds of Oxford, Miss. We will say goodbye to Debbie on Friday, November 16, at 11:00 am at Christ Church-PCA, 2500 Breton Rd SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan, with a time of visitation on Friday from 10-11 am prior to the service at the church,  and at a memorial service in Clinton, Mississippi, the following week. Donations in her memory may be made to the American Cancer Society.