Biography of Debbie J. Beineke
Deborah Jean Stariha was born on August 26, 1959 in Spooner, Wisconsin to Janice and Tom Stariha. She was the oldest of four children. Debbie attended the Spooner public schools graduating in 1977 from Spooner High School. Growing up she was a member of the Spooner Wesleyan Church where she was active in the youth group and often led the congregational singing. She was an accomplished vocalist and flutist. She graduated cum laude from Marion College in Marion, Indiana in 1981 with a major in mathematics education. She taught from 1981 to 1984 at Bennett High School in Marion.
In August of 1984 Debbie married John Beineke in Pella, Iowa and taught mathematics for three years at Knoxville (Iowa) Junior High School. Erick, John's son, was a significant and treasured part of Debbie's life. In 1987 a son, Colin, was born in Pella and in 1988 a daughter, Kaitlin, was born in Evansville, Indiana. Debbie took a ten-year hiatus from her teaching career to be at home with her children. From 1991 to 1994 she was a member of the Kennesaw United Methodist Church in Georgia, especially active in her Sunday school class "Friends in Faith" and Bible studies.
Debbie resumed her teaching career in Battle Creek, Michigan as a teacher at the Lakeview Alternative High School. She was a member of the Chapel Hill United Methodist Church. In 1999 when the family moved to Jonesboro, Arkansas she began teaching mathematics at Annie Camp Junior High School where both of her children attended and were students in her classes. Debbie was a graduate student in the Gifted and Talented program at Arkansas State University and had been a graduate student at three other universities. She was a member of the first United Methodist church of Jonesboro. An avid Green Bay Packer fan, her hobbies included reading, traveling, cross-stitching, and volunteering.
Debbie was a fourteen-year survivor of thyroid cancer. In December of 2001 she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Through three surgeries and monthly, then weekly, chemotherapy treatments, she continued to teach until February of 2003 when she took a leave of absence. In April of 2003, Debbie's students and colleagues at Annie Camp Junior High School held a "Mrs. B. Day" where they all wore the green and gold team colors of the Green Bay Packers. Her life and legacy continue to be a model and beacon for all of us through her love, service values, and courage.