Deborah "Debbie" Gaskins Penny

Deborah (Debbie) Gaskins Penny, 67, of Merrimon and Morehead City, died Sunday, January 9, 2022 at Crystal Coast Hospice House, Newport after a valiant battle with throat cancer.

Her funeral service and celebration of her life will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, January 14, 2022 at Munden Funeral Home, officiated by Rev. Rick Brooks. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at Munden Funeral Home. For those unable to attend, the service may be viewed on her obituary page on Munden Funeral Home’s website. The service will remain on the website for 90 days. Interment will follow at Gethsemane Memorial Park.     (See link below for the Service Bulletin including the Order of Service.)

Debbie was born December 8,1954, in Charleston, SC to the late Clara Salter Gaskins and Joe Nathan Gaskins, and was the youngest of their four girls.

Mrs. Penny worked a number of years as a nurse’s aide. But in 1999, she decided to pursue nurses training through enrolling in prerequisite courses at Horry-Georgetown Technical College in Conway, SC.

In 2000, she transferred to Conway Practical School of Nursing from which she graduated in May 2002 and subsequently passed the state exam for Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN). Working during that summer, Mrs. Penny started back to school in the fall of 2002 to complete all required prerequisites for entering the Associate Degree Nursing Program at the Conway campus of Horry-Georgetown Technical College.

She graduated from the Associate Degree Nursing Program and was recognized in the college’s pinning ceremony for the 26 graduates. She was the first member of her graduating class to pass the exam for Registered Nurse (RN). She worked as a nurse in the health care field in the Carolinas for many years, in the operating room, the ER, and supervisor of shifts. Deborah thoroughly loved her patients in nursing homes.

Mrs. Penny is survived by her daughter, Cindy Sexton Goodwin and her husband, Roger Goodwin, and her only grandson, Colt Goodwin of Garner; sisters, Jo G. Holloman of Pine Knoll Shores, Barbara Gaskins-Eugene and husband, Craig Eugene, of Morehead City, formerly of Sharpsburg, GA, Frances Gaskins Eubanks and husband, Larry G. Eubanks of Newport; nieces and nephews, Larry Mark Eubanks and wife, Teriann Eubanks of Morehead City, Diana Kelly and husband, Kevin Kelly of Clayton, Phillip Gaskins of Peachtree City, GA, Craig Patrick Eugene of Morehead City, Jenny Smith and husband, Hal Smith of Raleigh, and Chris Holloman and wife, Nikki of Raleigh; grand nieces and nephews, Candace Prajapati of Clayton, Ashley Eubanks of Raleigh, Ward Smith and Sloane Smith of Raleigh; and longtime friend, Melvin Davis of Merrimon.

The family would like to give a special thanks to Lydia Irving, who was Debbie’s lifelong friend and took care of her, and to her Hospice nurses.

The family suggests in lieu of flowers, please consider a contribution in memory of Deborah G. Penny to the Crystal Coast Hospice House at PO Box 640, Newport, NC 28570.

Family and friends are welcome to submit online condolences at www.mundenfuneralhome.net

Arrangements are by Munden Funeral Home & Crematory, Morehead City, NC.