Debbie Marquez, born July 5, 1966, in Salt Lake City, Utah, passed away on July 22, 2026, after a short but courageous battle with cancer. She was 60 years old. Debbie split her time between Rio Rancho, New Mexico, and Franklin, Tennessee, filling both places with the warmth, laughter, and love that defined her every single day.

Debbie was, quite simply, the hardest working woman her family ever knew. Strong-willed, fiercely devoted, and impossibly generous, she never backed down from any project and never met a person she didn’t welcome with unprecedented kindness. She loved with all her heart, and everyone who crossed her path felt it.

For 31 years, Debbie shared her life with the love of her life, her husband Chico Marquez. Together they raised three amazing children and were blessed with three wonderful grandchildren. Debbie loved her kids with everything she had, and nothing brought her more joy than watching her children and grandchildren participate in all their activities, cheering them on from the sidelines with a fierce and steadfast heart.

Debbie loved to cook and bake. She was a perfectionist when it came to putting food on the table. Sunday dinners at home were sacred. Family trips to Hawaii, days on the lake in the family boat, adventures in the mountains, these were the memories she treasured most and worked so hard to create. She loved sunsets, scrapbooking, making her home feel warm and cozy, and entertaining the people she loved.

In 2023, Debbie fell in love with Tennessee, and shortly after, she turned her passion for hospitality into something extraordinary. Alongside her daughter Shayna, she opened Fika Cafe, serving all the food she had spoiled her family with for years in her home kitchen. The cafe became a gathering place where people came to share time and a meal with friends and family, and Debbie loved every minute of it. She was adored by their employees and customers alike, because serving people was simply who she was.

Debbie was a devoted Christian woman whose faith was not something she practiced only on Sunday. She loved God and spent time with Him every single day, from the moment she woke and read the Good News with her morning coffee to the time she went to sleep, God was the center of her life. She was passionate about supporting Christian organizations helping kids in need, and she was devoted to sharing her testimony with friends and family in hopes they would come to know God the way she did. Her faith was her foundation, and it carried her through every season of life with grace.

Debbie is survived by her beloved husband, Chico Marquez; her daughter, Shayna Krajewski and her husband Adam Krajewski; her sons, Dakota Marquez (Yvonne) and Cameron Marquez (Leah); her grandchildren, Paisley, Mason, and Theo; her brother, Jimmy Wysong (Melanie), her sister, Jacque Peterson Sanchez; along with a large loving and cherished family. She was preceded in death by her father, Sydney Peterson; her mother, Lillian Bowman; her brother, Creg Shurtz; and her sisters, Carmen Shurtz and Lanisha Wysong.

A celebration of Debbie's life will be held on August 8 at 11:00 a.m. at Williamson Memorial Funeral Home, 3009 Columbia Avenue, Franklin, TN 37064.

The family is so blessed with the outpouring of love from friends and family and is so thankful to have each of you in their lives. They know with absolute certainty that Debbie is celebrating being with our Lord, and that the angels and family who passed before her were waiting to welcome her to heaven.