Deborah Reese Potts Deborah Reese Potts lived a life of joy, happiness, and love. She was born on May 21, 1952 to parents Gertrude Marie Stubbs (Reese) and to Hiram Drew Reese. She grew up in the south Texas towns of Three Rivers and Pleasanton, where she developed her life-long love of Mexican food.
She graduated from Pleasanton High School in 1970. Debbie attended Baylor University, where she met the love of her life, Arthur Neale Potts, Jr., when they were assigned as lab partners.
Neale and Debbie were married on May 26, 1973. She graduated from Baylor University in 1974 with a bachelors degree in English and Journalism Education. She completed her master’s degree in school counseling in 1975.
While at Baylor University, she worked for the student newspaper, The Baylor Lariat, and she was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. She received the Frank and Sue Mayborn scholarship in journalism. In her senior year at Baylor, she was named as one of 10 outstanding senior women.
For 33 years, Debbie worked as a counselor at Belton High School and later went on to serve in the role of counseling coordinator. She also headed up the Teen Involvement program at the high school for many years and was instrumental in starting the Freshman Focus student orientation program. Debbie began a career in private practice in 2008, working at Chupik Counseling and retired from Baylor Scott & White, where she was a mental health therapist for children and adolescents, Debbie was always ready to take on a new adventure, make a new friend, tell a funny story, or try out a new Mexican food restaurant.
She loved to travel and visited many countries over the course of her life. She was an avid reader and also loved to write. She often spent her spare time perfecting her writing.
She authored a children’s book named “Ocean Surpises” in 2009. She always greatly enjoyed spending time with various groups of friends and playing with her seven grandchildren who knew her as their beloved “DiDi”. Debbie was a faithful member of the First United Methodist Church in Belton and served in many different capacities there over the decades.
She loved studying the Bible and continued in the tradition of strong Christian faith that was passed on to her by her parents. She raised her children in the church and taught them to know, love, and serve Jesus. She was confident in her salvation and joyful in her anticipation of a beautiful eternity in heaven.
This hope comforted her greatly during her long and difficult struggle with frontotemporal dementia. Debbie is survived by her husband of 51 years, Arthur Neale Potts, Jr., and by her daughter, Lynsey Patrick (husband Bryan Patrick), her son, Luke Neale Potts (wife Kayla Potts) and 7 grandchildren: Daphne, Iris, Silas, and August Patrick and Emily, Drew, and Lillian Potts.
She is also survived by one beloved sister, Mary Organek (husband Mark Organek) of San Antonio. Debbie and her family would like to thank all of the loving friends who worked to comfort her and keep her spirits up during her illness. We are extremely grateful for the excellent care she received from Stoney Brook memory care center and from her Hospice caregivers.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Debbie Reese Potts Scholarship Fund at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, 900 College Street, Box 8409, Belton, Texas, 76513. This scholarship was established several years ago to aid students from Belton High School who are pursuing a degree in education and counseling. Paid Obituary.
