Debra A. ‘Debbie’ (Shatto) Bland, 49, of Ocala, went to be with the Lord on Tuesday, October 1, 2019, after a courageous four year battle with ovarian cancer. Debra was born in Sidney, Ohio on January 21, 1970 to Terry and Deanna Shatto.
She moved to Ocala in August, 1983 attending Fort King Middle School and then Forest High School, where she graduated from in 1988. She began attending Central Christian Church in Ocala in 1986 and accepted Jesus Christ as her personal Lord and Savior in 1987. It was at church youth group where she met the love of her life, Jimmy. They began dating in 1986 and were married on July 7, 1990.
She began a career as a cosmetologist first working for Hair Plus and later Designer Line Hair Studio, however, she devoted herself to being a full time mom raising her three children, Hunter, Dawson, and Savannah. Her family was her world and she was extremely proud of her kids. No matter the church activity, school function, sporting event, or dance recital her children were involved in, she was always there and made sure they could see and hear their mom cheering for them. Her love of family extended to her wonderful daughter in love, Mariah, accepting and loving her as her own child. She was constantly taking pictures of her family and proudly sharing everything on Facebook.
She also loved other children in addition to her own and would take the opportunity to love on them whenever she had the chance. She briefly worked as an assistant teacher at St. Paul’s Christian School in Ocala, where she was affectionately known as ‘Miss Debbie.’ She maintained relationships with many of those families until the time of her passing.
She enjoyed spending time with family, family vacations, special trips with friends, scrapbooking, and always looking for bargains, and boy could she find them. She also had a beautiful smile that would light up a room and enjoyed a great laugh, especially at Dawson’s silly jokes.
Even though she had a long, hard fight with cancer, she valiantly fought the battle, never quit, and kept her faith in Jesus Christ the entire time. She took the time to minister to other women that were going through similar trials letting them know that they had a sister in Christ to walk with them in their journey. A couple of her favorite scripture verses were Philippians 4:13 and Jeremiah 29:11
She is survived by her husband of 29 years, James Bland, Jr. of Ocala; her children, Hunter and Mariah Bland, Dawson Bland, and Savannah Bland, all of Ocala; her parents, Terry and Deanna Shatto of Summerfield; brother, Craig Shatto of Homosassa Springs; father and mother in law, James and Darlene Bland of Ocala; brother in law, Travis Bland of Ocala; and aunts, uncles, sisters in law, nieces, nephew, and cousins.
A Celebration of Life will be held at 7:00pm on Friday, October 25, 2019 at Central Christian Church with Pastor Doug Reed officiating, 3010 NE 14th St. in Ocala 352-622-1119. Flowers can be sent to the church on Friday, October 25, 2019 any time after 1PM.
The family asks that any donations be made to Central Christian Church, geauxteal.com (Ovarian Cancer Awareness) or The American Cancer Society. Arrangements by Hiers-Baxley Funeral Services Ocala, FL.