Debra Joan (Hildebrand) Blakeman

Debra “Deb” Joan (Hildebrand) Blakeman, 72, died following long illnesses on December 2, 2023 at Falmouth Hospital.

Deb was born on July 27, 1951 in Trenton, NJ to the late Barbara Ellen (Shann) and Stanley Grover Hildebrand. She attended and graduated from Hopewell Valley Highschool, NJ in 1969, married in 1971 and worked for Western Electric Engineering Research Center until 1972, when she took a bus to California on vacation and refused to go back (not even for her belongings) – she lived in South Laguna, CA until returning to Princeton, NJ to open an antique store with her then-husband, Phillips (Van) Blakeman, and to start their family.

In 1984 Deb moved to Cape Cod, MA where she raised her daughters, opening her home and heart to her daughters’ friends, and a long line of furry strays – despite having to work three jobs to provide for her children, and later, her own parents. In 1999, Deb moved back to NJ where she worked as a program manager for Rees Scientific until her retirement in 2013, when she returned to the Cape to live with her daughter, taking part-time jobs as an elf on The Polar Express, ticket-taker at King Richard’s Faire, or driver for those needing transportation to medical appointments.

Deb loved spending time in the kitchen, trying out new recipes from the plethora of cooking shows she enjoyed watching; she loved to travel and didn’t care if she went alone – she ventured to England, Ireland, Scotland, Canada, Mexico, Amsterdam, Belgium and France until her health prevented her from completing the bucket list (Australia and Hawaii); she was an avid reader, and also enjoyed spending entire days at the movie theatre, hopping from one cinema to the next. For the past five years Deb devoted herself to her only grandchild (whom she rightfully loved more than her own children but wouldn’t admit) – spending endless hours teaching, reading, singing, playing, coloring, and of course, spoiling.

Deb will forever be remembered for her kind heart, giving nature, genuine spirit, and pure soul.

Deb is survived by her daughters, Darby Blakeman, of Hyannis, MA, and Brianny Blakeman, of Falmouth, MA; her granddaughter Aubri Hall of Falmouth, MA; and her life-long adopted sister Geri Stover (and husband Robert) of Middletown, DE. Deb was preceded in death by her parents as well as her brother Dale Curtis Hildebrand.

Services will be private.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Deb’s memory may be made to MSPCA-Cape Cod, Attn: Donations, 1577 Falmouth Road, Centerville, MA 02632 or online at www.mspca.org/donate-now.