Deborah (Deb) Bennett Thompson of Ithaca, NY, passed away on May 6, 2021, after a long journey with Alzeihmer’s. She was surrounded by her loving friends and family and passed away gently in her home. She was 80 years old.
Deb was born in Homer, NY on March 18, 1941. She was the daughter of Eleanor Fischer and Porter Kingsbury Bennett. She attended Cortland High School, class of 1959 and received an undergraduate degree from Wells College in 1963. She went on to get a graduate degree in Education. Her first teaching job took her to Amherst, MA where she embraced a spirited lifestyle, rock climbing, skiing and down river kayaking. She married Jonathan Thompson in 1974 and embarked on a “back to nature” adventure on a small farm in Virgil, NY. She raised two children, Morgan and Susan on the land surrounded by nature. She was a fun-loving and creative homesteader, always brimming with ideas and curiosity. She made a point of noticing the little things, lichen and moss, bird calls and the way the leaded light traveled along the walls of her living room throughout the year. She would mark it’s path with pencil and date it.
In 1990 Deb moved to Ithaca, NY where she created a home that was as warm and welcoming as she was. Her door was always open and people of all ages stopped by for tea or to hunt for treasures in the carved maple treehouse out front. She opened a Bed and Breakfast, Deb’s Beds, that thrived on her effortless generosity and her love of connecting with people. She was creative, adventurous and kind and let the world in with open arms. You may have seen her dancing to live music at GrassRoots, walking in local nature preserves with friends, shopping with her woven baskets at the farmer’s market or kayaking on the lake. Deb’s life was rooted in compassion and social justice and our lives will forever be inspired by her deep respect for nature and people, and the responsibility of caring for both.
Deb will be lovingly remembered by her children, Morgan (Julia) and Susan (Jed) and her grandchildren Sebastian, Alden, Oliver , Jasper and Simon, as well as her older brother Peter, her partner Joe and countless cherished friends and family.
A Celebration of her life will take place at Taughannock Falls State Park, Central Pavilion on Sunday July 11th from 2pm-4pm.
In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Finger Lakes Land Trust.
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