Deborah Kay Rothacher

“The earth is rude, silent, incomprehensible at first; Be not discouraged-keep on-there are divine things, well envelop’d; I swear to you there are divine things more beautiful than words can tell.” -Walt Whitman

Deborah Kay Rothacher, age 72, of Sardis, Ohio, passed away Monday January 27th, 2025 at her home on Rothacher Farms. She was born in Cambridge, England and spent her childhood discovering the divine things of the Earth as her family travelled the world with the U.S. Air Force. The rolling green hills and the blue eyes of a local farm boy caught her interest, and she spent the next fifty-one years discovering the beautiful things in life with him.

Her fascination with the intricacies of life first took her into a career as a dental assistant, but then culminated into her true calling of sharing that sense of wonder as an educator; after earning a Masters degree from WVU and while balancing work in office and as a mother of two small children, she shared her knowledge of biology and anatomy at Paden City and Magnolia High Schools and New Martinsville Elementary school.

She is survived by her husband of fifty-one years, Ronald; two children Ryan (Whitney) Rothacher of Sardis, Ohio, and Brie (Brian Frankart) Rothacher of Columbus, Ohio; grandsons Gunnar and Soren Frankart, Winston and Jacob Rothacher; brother Robert (Laura) Farmer of Morton, Illinois, sister Rhonda Taylor of Lawerance, Kansas, and a happy gaggle of nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents, James Farmer and Ruth Simpson, and by her brother, Gary Farmer.

Funeral services will be private. Burial will follow at Rothacher Farms.

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