Debbie Jean Murlin passed from this life with her family by her side on April 22, 2023, at her home in Cushing, Oklahoma.  Her care has been entrusted to Palmer Marler Funeral Home in Cushing, Oklahoma.

Debbie was born in Dyersburg, Tennessee, on October 28, 1951, to parents Kell and Mae (Pilgrim) Gaskins.  Her family later moved to Cushing, Oklahoma, which is where she and her siblings attended Cushing Schools.  As a senior in high school, she took a full-time job at Southwestern Bell as a telephone operator.  She was able to successfully begin her career and graduate from high school all at the same time.

She married her husband of almost 50 years, Lee Ray Murlin, on August 17, 1973.  Together, they raised four children, Kenny, Jana, Kathy and Christopher.  Debbie loved the family that God blessed her with and would do anything for them, always making sure they were fed with a hot meal and showed the greatest love and care.

Debbie connected with people everywhere she went.  She had a caring and loving personality that she showed to her family, church members, friends and her entire neighborhood.  She loved to work in her garden, growing the most beautiful and unique flowers.  She loved to take visitors on a tour of her flower beds, telling about each plant and sharing seeds and starts.  She also enjoyed sharing her love of cooking.  She was always trying new recipes and sharing old ones with friends.  If you needed a step-by-step explanation of how to do it, she was happy to oblige.

Her care continued toward children in need when she established a mission at her church called Love Bears.  Through this mission, they made over 14,000 bears that were distributed to children in hospitals, adoption centers, police stations and elsewhere.  These bears have gone all over the world bringing comfort to many children.

She is preceded in death by her parents and her older brother Mick Gaskins.

She is survived by her husband, Lee Murlin; her children, Kenny Murlin, Jana Fairbanks and husband Jimmy, Kathy Hess and husband Bob and Christopher Murlin and husband William; two brothers, Willie and Joe Gaskins; grandchildren, Winter, Tylor, Katelin and husband Riley, Skyler and husband Zacc, Hunter, Trever and wife Emily, Kayla and husband Brett and Brooke; and a host of great grandchildren, nieces, nephews, friends and neighbors that will greatly miss Debbie.