Deborah

Friends Sharing Memories:
Celebrating the Life of
Deborah Nasta

Family-provided Biography 

Memories by Fran | Elizabeth | Terry | Karl & Joanne

Family-provided biography

Deborah was born on Staten Island on the 26th of September 1952, the third child of Carmine and Edith Nasta. She attended P.S.11 and when her family moved to Stapleton she attended P.S. 14, Dreyfus J.H.S. 49, and Curtis High School. An honor student and a member of Arista, Deborah served on the student government, the staff of the student newspaper, and as a gym leader. 

... She was a cheerleader and a member of several sports teams, including Curtis' City Championship Girls Volleyball team Deborah played softball and bowled as a part of the Stapleton Athletics Club and she also played professional softball with the Pandoras. She was an usher at Lincoln Center while a High School student.

Deborah attended Brooklyn College, earning a degree in Fine Arts and Art History. Later, she earned Master's degrees in Education and Administration.

While in college, Deborah spent a few summers in upstate NY serving as a counselor at Camp Manitou of the Girls' Vacation Fund! Boys' Athletic League (GVF/BAL). She also served on the staff of Mount Loretto, working with adolescent girls In the course of these experiences 

Deborah forged several friendships that have lasted 50 years. She also served a brief stint as a florist in Brooklyn.

Deborah took frequent breaks from her studies to travel and pursue her interests in the arts. She lived in California for extended periods of time on two occasions and worked on Christo's Running Fence. She also worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and .was involved in the installation of the King Tutankhamen  Exhibition. 

Deborah shared her love of the arts with her family and friends by securing tickets for theth to attend the exhibition. She ushered at concerts at the MMA and did stained glass for Glassmasters in NYC.

In the mid-1970s, Deborah worked for Arthur Frommer, affording her many opportunities to travel to Canada, Egypt, and many countries in Europe, more than once.

Deborah started her career with the NYC Board of Education as a long-term substitute teacher. After her son Corey was born in October 1985, Deborah returned to teaching and settled in at PS 69 as an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher. She served as Interim Director of the ESL program for one school year. Deborah ran after school and summer programs, wrote several grants, and found ways to expose her students to the arts.

... She was a teacher trainer and advanced to the position of Educational Administrator and Grant Project Director for the NYC Department of Education before her retirement. In addition, Deborah tutored many children and taught art history at St. John's University.

Deborah was an active member of the Great Kills Moravian Church for over 30 years. She taught Sunday School, VBS, led Children's Church and served in the nursery. She sang in the choir, served as an elder, and served in the kitchen during the Church Fairs. Most recently she served as a Central Elder for the United Brethren's Church of Staten Island. She created scenery for several "Kid's Praise" performances. She supported the Vanderbilt Avenue Moravian Church by frequently attending or preparing meals for their community dinners.

Deborah was a devoted mother, daughter, sister, and friend. She was so delighted to become a mother and cherished her son, Corey. Deborah and Corey traveled far and wide to visit her family and friends. She was the primary caretaker for her elderly parents for more than 10 years.

Deborah was preceded in death by her brother Kenneth, father Carmine, and mother Edith. She is survived by her son Corey French, sisters Patricia App, Gail Andrews, and Barbara Nasta, and brothers Jeffrey Nasta and Stephen Nasta, several nieces and nephews, and many dear friends.

Fran

I first met Debbie about 50 years ago at Camp Manitou. Miss Riki as she was called was one of the most beautiful girls I had ever seen. When she smiled her smile and blue eyes lit up together and it was magical. 

But it was not just physical beauty but a happy, energetic presence that made me want to know more. After camp days my husband & I were moving to Staten Island and a group of friends offered to help unload the U-haul when we got to Oakland Ave. Debbie was in charge of the cats, Gypsy & Gemini,
and she always remarked how the cats came to her whenever she came over because they knew she was “safe” and kind of “came with the house”. 

Friends are people that transform and enrich our lives. Debbie was a wonderful friend for whenever she found gold she would share with me and say “dig here”. I reaped the benefits of so much gold. When she worked at GlassMasters in NYC I was treated to the world of stained glass. We went
to the Met together to revel in the beauty of Tiffany’s Autumn Landscape or Magnolias & Irises. 

I developed a love of stained glass and my house has several stained glass lamps that make me smile every time I look at them. When Debbie worked at Arthur Frommer’s travel agency (yes, that Arthur Frommer author of “Europe on $5 a day” for those old enough to remember that book), Debbie was generous and shared. If the charter plane was not full I was Debbie’s “sister” and we could fly to Europe for a few dollars. 

...We traveled to London for a week and I remember Debbie saying…”I have a friend we can visit in Wales….” Debbie was always connecting friends to friends. So we hopped a train to Cardiff, Wales to visit this friend. He was in optometry school and besides an enjoyable visit we both got free eye exams! Who does that??? 

Debbie…. Another time she could not go to Paris in a last minute deal but got her mom, my mom & me on the plane. It was without a doubt the best trip her mom ever took and the three of us had a ball all week. The French were wonderful to us bumbling tourists who could not speak a lick of French and I have fond memories of the Eddies from that adventure. Debbie sparked my love of travel. I am retired now & do alot of traveling and was able to repay the favor with my timeshares. 

Debbie & her mom joined me on several trips to Myrtle Beach and Massachusetts and it was always a good time working in the kitchen with Debbie and preparing meals for our moms. When Debbie worked at the Met she opened my eyes to one of the world’s most esteemed cultural institutions. 

She got me into the Temple of Dendur when it was the hottest ticket in town and who knew that after the museum closed it was still OPEN for classical music concerts. We enjoyed many great performances and shared a love of fine art & music and Broadway shows which continued over the years. 

Debbie not only share experiences, she shared her friends. I would have never met Teri, Joanie, Joanne & Karl without Debbie. We were all poor & struggling so we would do Friday night gourmet dinners at each other’s homes. Teri made the best desserts hands down & we all encouraged her to sell the stuff...hello Mother Mousse! 

All of these friends were talented & creative, and it was my honor to get to know them as people and artists. When Debbie was raising Corey at the Maryland Ave house we spent so many happy days playing with Corey and enjoying the simple pleasures and infectious joy that a child brings to the  world. One day when Corey was about 3 we were in the front yard and I was holding Corey upside down while he giggled away. Debbie stepped in and stopped the fun saying it was too dangerous. 

She was right...a good mom protecting her son. I watched Debbie raise Corey and teach him how to share & be kind. I watched him grow into the fine young man he is and I always told Debbie Corey  was her greatest accomplishment. 

Over the later part of our friendship I saw my friend struggle with many issues including parent caregiving. I know Debbie was very stressed and not caring for her health. Many of her friends & family, myself included, tried to encourage her to seek help but all our interventions failed. For someone so smart she was unable or incapable of asking for help. It was sad to watch. I stayed out of the groupon scene (Debbie was the queen of restaurant groupons) However at least once a week she would come over to my house for a late lunch/early dinner. After the meal we would watch ELLEN and she sometimes fell asleep in the lounge chair. Alice & Debbie were supposed to come to my  house for lunch to celebrate their birthdays but we wound up at Casey’s instead.

I think a great way to remember Debbie is to practice the Ellen mantra: Be kind to one another. I will cling to all the good times. Whenever I turn on my stained glass lamps, visit a museum, go to a  concert, see a Broadway show, or get together with friends of Debbie I will remember. I will  remember my friend Of 50 years who showed me all the gold she found. She transformed and enriched my life. I look forward to the day we can be reunited. At the end of Daybreak a book written  by Joan Baez ( a folk singer we both enjoyed) there are a few lines that sums up Debbie:

You are Amazing Grace
You are a precious jewel
You- special, miraculous, unrepeatable, fragile, fearful, tender, lost,
sparkling ruby emerald jewel, rainbow splendor person

That was the Debbie I knew….

Friends Forever, Rest in peace

Elizabeth

To Friends & Family of Debbie Nasta who are gathered together to honor her life. 

I'm sorry I cannot be there with you today.  But I want to share a few words with you about  Debbie—and our friendship over the years.  

Where to start?——-Debbie was a mixed bag—Feisty- made of some pretty strong & terrific stuff but also vulnerable—-with her outgoing personality and friendliness she was a real swizzle stick—-She knew a lot of people and would bring them together—-introducing you to her friends and colleagues.  Always tried to include you in something fun that  she was doing.  Or take you along to visit someone she thought you'd like.  

First and foremost she was a true friend - overflowing with generosity,  she had a boundless curiosity and artistic nature, was a culinary wiz, a woman who despite whatever mishaps she'd experienced had a fabulous sense of humor, and for much of her life was powered by high energy.   If it ever came down to it, you'd want to have Debbie on your side.

What I remember most when I first met Debbie was feeling her warmth—followed by the gravitational pull of her big blue eyes, nice teeth and Colgate smile.   Even though we were at different junior High schools (she went to Markham JHS 49(?) and I went to Prall - JHS 27) we got to know each other through the school's GO (Government Organization) and Cheerleaders of which we were both on respective squads.  Whenever I saw Debbie—even at basketball games when we were cheering for opposing teams—she was always first to come over to say Hi and she seemed really glad to see me.

Then there were the "Chance Meetings" - as we called them. When I moved to Manhattan right after High School graduation I felt like I wanted to "Kiss Staten Island Goodbye forever".   I did not keep in touch with many people from my school days——except for Debbie—-who it never failed I would bump into (almost literally) on the streets of Manhattan -  once while riding my bike on 6th Ave at 18th St. near "Glass master's"  Stained glass studio"  where she'd worked for awhille,   another time at a concert at Town Hall.  She even recalled running into me with an old room-mate in a Gristedes supermarket on 8th Street in the Village - We were hard pressed for cash and she said one of us had put a bunch of celery up the sleeve of our antique fur coat.  I remembered that day too, but I thought it was a package of cheese—-not celery——-but one didn't argue with Debbie (LOL).

One of my favorite things about Debbie was how creative and innovative she was.   I was invited to a party where I had to bring a dish that represented a movie that was up for an  Academy Award.    We bounced around a few ideas, and I told her I'd really liked the movie I'd just seen called, "March of the Penguins" and Debbie had this great idea for how to make a tray of "little penguin" hors d'oeuvres out of a couple black olives  for head & body, a smear of cream cheese  for their tuxedo-like chest and carrot pieces for the beak and feet.   Needless to say they were a hit at the party and when I called her the next day to tell her about it and to say thanks for all her help, she said, "Oh it was nothing!"   She gave so much of herself without even thinking about it. 

Another time Debbie had somehow arranged to get tickets for about 25-of-her-closest friends and taken us all to see the Broadway show, South Pacific!!     Who does that kind of thing?  

There were other times that Debbie—as Mother & Teacher—-could be very forceful.   I recall sitting in the back seat of her car (the front seat was probably cluttered with something Debbie was collecting or bringing to someone) and apparently Corey was not in her good graces that day and in frustration she finally turned around and yelled something out loud—-which made both Corey and I jump in our seats.   I remembering feeling like one of her kids—and the sensation that Mommy was Mad.   But we both seemed to know that it never lasted long.

But probably what has always meant the most to me throughout my friendship with Debbie——was how she almost had a 6th sense about when you needed her and how she might help.   When my Father died suddenly at age 57 of a heart attack—the wake, the funeral was—and still is—-all a blur to me...but what I remember from that day was coming back to my Mom's house after the funeral and finding a tray of delicious home-made pastries sitting on top of the milk box at the side door. There was No Note.   It seemed to appear out of nowhere....it felt magical somehow.  It was a day or two later that I found out she had dropped them off.  That thoughtful gesture touched me in a way  I've never forgotten.   I believe it helped me get through one of the most difficult days of my life.

No,  I'm not done yet.  Fast forward about 35 years - I am at Carmel Nursing home on Staten Island the night before my Mom passed away.  She had had her 2nd stroke and many other health issues were pulling her down quickly.  Her Physician Assistant had told me that she may only have another day or so.   So, I went to see her.   Mom was pretty much unconscious at that point but I sat with her a long while, talked to her, played some music for her, kissed her and said Goodbye.   And who was it who had offered to drive me to the Ferry that night——-and who was there waiting for me in her car. but, Debbie Nasta.   Debbie not only drove me to the ferry, but across the Verrazano all the way home to my apartment in Manhattan.    And she drove and listened to me talk about my Mom and cry...and at moments we laughed ——that was My Friend Debbie.   And when I got the call at 5am the next morning from the Nursing home I was more ready to accept the loss because of the deep compassionate embrace I'd felt from a friend.  

Debbie, I love you and miss you so much already.    I know your spirit will live on though your  amazing son Corey and in each of us.     I hope you are resting in a good place—-with lots of sunshine and a nice big pool.

Terry (AKA Mother Mousse)

I think that since I found out about Debbie’s death I have not stopped thinking about her and all she has meant to me and how impactful she has been on my life. This is my grieving process. To remember someone like Debbie’s life and how she touched me.

I remember my first times with Debbie as adventures.  She taught me about being a participator in life.  She taught me about friendships, music, dancing and art and so much more. We thought there was nothing we could not do. A few of the things I think about when I think of my friend Debbie was our wonderful dinner parties that as a group of friends we all shared in.  Making wonderful meals that we were inspired by our times watching Julia Child together.

Debbie was always making friends with people and sometimes if you were out with her she would take you visiting to their house.  There was Mr Kosa who had a beautiful garden and shared his Irises with us, or there was  Mrs Notman who had a beautiful house on Todt hill that Debbie new from the Benefit shop, Debbie when asked what she would like to drink asked for a bourbon on the rocks.  She said to me, It just looks like that kind of a house.

Debbie introduced me to thrift stores and my love for vintage clothing, she had some collection and there were nights we would dress up and photograph each other. Debbie was so beautiful, never needed makeup and seldom wore it , a natural beauty,but she saw all the beauty in others.   So many people that loved her because of her engaging personality.  Especially with children in school as an educator,  when she was with them she encouraged them as she encouraged everyone by being loving and accepting.

She always had an adventure in mind, going to Manhattan and finding these great places to eat, she helped shape my love for food! We went to Indian restaurants, Japanese, eclectic places in the village and the lower east side to the polish restaurant which was one of her favorites. She would call me up and say, Can you come out and play. And I would always go!

Wonderful evenings spent laughing and sharing. When Debbie’s sister Gail was getting married and she wanted to make the food for the wedding, so she commandeered her friends and made a wedding for Gail. She believed in us. Debbie saw what was special in each one of us. She shared her friends and I am grateful for all the wonderful people I met through her.

One of the things I admired most about Debbie was the way she did not let you slip away or time go by without keeping in contact with us. I am so happy Debbie, that you did that, that you held on to me. I also know that you are still here with me, holding on to me thank you for being my friend and not letting me go. There are so many things that Debbie introduced me to, she shared with me so much and helped build the person I am today.

Thank you Debbie I love you and will never forget you.

Karl & Joanne

1970 something.  I first met Debbie while working with PINS petition kids at Mount Loretta; Joanne much earlier in Junior High School.  What struck me about her was how she helped the children to see their own gifts and talents -- connected with the kids and became their mentor - some of these relationships persisted well beyond her employment as a counselor. 

We became life long friends.  She made sure to maintain our connection even after we moved to Buckwampum PA.  She'd arrive with bundles overflowing with good eats from Staten Island Italian deli: morta deli, fresh mozzarella, vegetables from co-op ...  Always she came with stories and with a "little" gift stashed in her bundle.

With Debbie you did not have to wait very long at all to learn what she was thinking about, concerned about, or found so amusing.   Thank you for your enduring and treasured friendship, Debbie.   Your spirit and legacy lives on in our hearts.