MARTYN, Debra Jean passed away peacefully at home on February 18, 2023 at the age of 71.

Born in West Tatamagouche on October 26, 1951, she was the daughter of the late Mary Ina Hayman and Lawson Kenneth Hayman. She lived in West Tatamagouche through her childhood.

Debra attended Acadia University, where she earned a BSc in Home Economics and met her future husband, Peter Martyn, who she married in 1974. After university Debra moved to PEI as a District Home Economist, and then to Labrador. In 1975 she and Peter settled in Montreal, where she ran a group home for cognitively disabled adults. She joined the staff of Edgewater Elementary School in Pincourt in the early 1980s, where she worked until her retirement in 2006, assisting students with disabilities. In 2001 she began a second career teaching English internationally. She began in Suwon, South Korea as a Kindergarten teacher, and then at university at Guilin University of Technology in China. After retirement, she volunteered with CUSO International. She taught teachers in Kibaya, Tanzania and worked as a product designer at Chu Chu in Yangon, Myanmar. At Chu Chu, she created merchandise out of recycled materials. She was a mother, homemaker, world traveler, gardener, and sewer. She welcomed her children, Heather and Alex in the 1980s and spent the next 20 years raising her family with the calm and loving competence she was known for. After retiring in Tatamagouche, she spent time on her hobbies: gardening, puzzles, sudoku, traveling, knitting and sewing. She volunteered on the executive team of The Fraser, a local gallery promoting visual arts and crafts. At the Fraser, she expanded on her lifelong interests, learning a variety of fibre and visual arts.

She leaves a lifetime of joyful memories and love with her family, husband of 49 years Peter Howard Martyn; daughter Heather Jemma Martyn and son-in-law Marc Laflamme of Mississauga; son Alexander Nicholas Martyn, daughter-in-law Kristy (Fee) Martyn, granddaughters Avery Jean Martyn and Reese Michelle Martyn of Dartmouth; sister Joan Nina (Hayman) Perrin and brother-in-law Bob Perrin of Tatamagouche. She is remembered with love by her extended family and her many friends. Our family would like to thank Dr. Daniel MacDonald, Martha Ferguson, and the many staff at the VON for their knowledge, guidance, and steady care through Debra's illness.

A Celebration of Life Service will be held Saturday, March 18 at 2pm in Coulter's Funeral Home, Tatamagouche. Reception will follow. Family interment will take place in The Falls Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Fraser. By mail: Send a cheque made out to "Northumberland Arts Council" to Northumberland Arts Council, PO Box 335, Tatamagouche, NS B0K 1V0; or by e-transfer to treasurer@thefraser.org.