Debbie Baldwin

If you ever crossed paths with Debbie Rae Baldwin (Moses/McLavey) before she passed on Wednesday, December 12, 2018, chances are you were her friend. She never met a stranger over the 63 years she spent on this earth. Debbie was born on April 15, 1955 in Toppenish, Washington to Arlen Ramos and Ledenies “Mary” (Whalawitsa) Moses—some say with a smile that lasted her entire life. On the day of her birth, she was enrolled as a member of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. She spent her life “crossing paths and touching lives,” from her youth growing up in White Swan to the 11 years she worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, to the eight years at Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico and, finally, to eight years at Shepard Air Force Base in Texas. That’s about half the country she traveled… creating new friends and adopted families each step along the way. Debbie married Gary Lee McLavey and raised two children, daughter Jackie and son Sterling, before Gary’s passing. She was remarried to Randy Dee Baldwin on July 7, 2001 and they spent 33 years together as a happy, adoring couple. In her free time, when Debbie wasn’t on the golf course with Randy or busy making a lifelong friend, she enjoyed scrapbooking and crafting galore. But her true passion in life, her “greatest achievement,” was her family—her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and her wonderful husband. It’s impossible to imagine a person with more photos of her family than Debbie had—with photos adorning her office and the walls of her home, bursting out of drawers and cupboards, and peeking out of scrapbooks. She would gladly share those photos with a smile to anyone who asked. The love she had for her family was the same love she shared with the world. Her positivity was infectious and her smile, that bright smile, could brighten even the gloomiest of days and the grumpiest of people. So take a page from Debbie’s book and never pass up a chance to laugh, share a smile, and make a friend. Debbie was preceded in death by first husband Gary McLavey, grandmothers Kate Whalawitsa and Martha Moses, grandson Stowse Lee Deane, and family members Clarence Whalawitsa, Ed Whalawitsa, Jakie Whalawitsa and Johnny Whalawitsa. She is survived by parents Arlen and Mary Moses, husband Randy Baldwin, children Jackie and Sterling McLavey, dog-child Jax Baldwin, grandchildren Kayla (Briana) Deane, Nacona (Lewis) Fraser, Zoe McLavey, Dessa McLavey, Danner Deane and Jessie Deane, three great-grandchildren, Bryson Harnden, Forest Fraser and Hadley Fraser, and numerous other family members. A funeral service will be held on Saturday, December 22, 2018 at Valley Hills Funeral Home in Wapato, Washington at 11:00 am with burial to follow at the Reservation Community Memorial Park in Wapato, Washington. Donations in her honor may be sent to Hospice of Wichita Falls in Wichita Falls, Texas and Memorial Hospice and Home Care in Yakima, Washington. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Debbie Baldwin, please visit our flower store.