Debra "Debbie" Belle (Stahl) Rice

Debra Belle Rice - Debbie, as she was known, was born on October 26, 1950, in Springfield, Illinois to Henry Charles Stahl and Geraldine Marjorie (Mann) Stahl. She passed away on February 7, 2025, in Owasso, OK

Her family moved to Tulsa, OK in 1959 and then to Bartlesville, OK in 1963. Debbie graduated with the first class from Sooner High School in Bartlesville, OK, in May 1968.

While in high school Debbie did the majority amount of sewing on the Sooner Spartans school fl ag of which she was very proud. She and her mother also started the first known Sunday school service for the mentally disabled at First United Methodist Church in Bartlesville in 1964. After word got out that they had this class all the neighboring churches brought their children to the class then picked the children up after they had attended their church service. Debbie then became well known for having a special bond with these children of which she then was entrusted with babysitting many of them for the families when they wanted to go out. Debbie also cooked hundreds of meals that her and Dale delivered and served to a homeless church on the street in Tulsa for many years. Debbie loved her family and friends very much and the special relationships she had with them. She also loved cooking, crafts, and her roses, traveling, her international friends and especially Christmas. She was employed with Linde Process Plants, Inc. as an Administrative Assistant for over 25 years before retiring in 2016 due to health reasons.

She is survived by her husband Dale of the home; children, Misti Michelle Rice and her wife, Jill Hartwig, of Rochester Hills, MI, and Casey Emmett Rice, and his fiancée, Sara Mueller of Owasso. She was the proud grandmother of Avery Belle Hartwig-Rice of Rochester Hills, MI, Hunter Elizabeth Rice of Owasso, Jacob Hartwig-Rice and Adrian Hartwig-Rice of Rochester Hills, MI, and Alston Sullivan of Rochester Hills, MI; great-granddaughter, Hadleigh Isabelle Pappe of Owasso; sisters, Janice L. Bigby of Sperry, Sandra M. Warren of Bartlesville, and Sheila A. Behnke of Glendora, CA; brothers, Gregory A. Stahl of Sacramento, CA, Henry S. Stahl of Bernice, and Jerry M. Stahl of Bartlesville; 8 nieces and their spouses; 4 nephews; 15 great-nephews; and 4 great-nieces; along with many cousins, and a host of close friends she called family. Her family was her pride and joy.

She was preceded in death by her father, Henry C. Stahl; mother, Geraldine Stahl; brother, Edwin C. Stahl; and two nephews. 

Arrangements and services were entrusted to Johnson Funeral Home, Sperry.

Online condolences to the family can be made at johnsonsperry.com.