Our Story

With every precious life lost to cancer comes a story. This is but a brief summary of the life of a wonderful lady named Debbie Gabel. Her husband Rocky provides her story…

Debbie was born in Valley City. She attended and graduated from Valley City. We met when we were in junior high and married in 1975. We had our son Joey in 1984. He grew up in Valley City, attended and graduated from NDSU. Debbie worked for the license and credit bureau until 1990 at that time she became a full time partner and book keeper for Gabel Masonry. She loved her dogs and the outdoors. She also enjoyed decorating our house. She was stricken with ovarian cancer in September of 2005. That following year we got into riding motorcycles, she took and passed the intense driving class. Then she received her motorcycle driving endorsement. This last year she was too sick to ride her own bike, so she rode double with me. She went into the hospital Nov 3 and had two surgeries, which was 7 total in 3 years. The final surgery was Dec 3 and that was when they found out there was no hope. I brought her home and Hospice helped us out with supplies and some nursing needs when requested. I was able to take care of her to the end. She passed away January 9th, 2009.