Deborah Phelps

On Tuesday, September 27th at 10:35 AM, Deborah Ellis Phelps, loving mother and grandmother, passed away at age seventy. The third child born to Arlene Owens Ellis and John Henry Ellis, Deborah lived in many places during her childhood and teenage years, including Germany and North Carolina before finally settling in Lawton, OK with her twin sister, Joan Elliot. It was there while working at a drive-in restaurant, she met her husband Douglas ‘Smokie’ Phelps. They were married after a few months of dating and stayed together until his death on August 28, 2017.

Shortly after the tragic death of her youngest daughter Heidi, Debbie’s oldest daughter, Joan, met and married Barry Sorrow. Joan and Bear moved to Nashville, TN to work and start a family, and Debbie and Smokey followed them soon after. Debbie lived and worked in the health insurance industry and around the Nashville area for the remainder of her life.

Debbie is survived by her daughter, Joan Sorrow, and her grandchildren, Brandon and Bailey Sorrow, her twin sister, Joan Elliot and her husband Chuck Elliot from Lawton, OK, her niece, and nephew-in-law Lisa and Jake Sharp along with their children Stone and Kole Sharp, her sisters, Eve Fitzsimmons from Washington, DC, Sue Toffon and husband James from Rocky Mount, NC, Tina Schnitke and husband Sylvester from Bluffton, OH, and Rina Henry from Menard, TX, her brothers John Ellis and wife Linda from Rocky Mount, NC Adam Ellis and wife Jung-Suk of Lawton, OK.

The memorial service will be held at Alexander Funeral Home in Gallatin, TN (584 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN 37066) at 2 pm on Saturday Oct 8, 2022. Flowers can be sent to the same address. The family requests that any monetary donations be sent to the Alzheimer's Association or the Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital in Debbie’s name.