Obituary of Debra Elaine Goode
Debra Elaine Goode passed away peacefully December 9, 2022 at her home in Houston, Texas, after a brief final stage of Alzheimer’s. She was 69. Debra was born on June 17,1953 in Spokane Washington to Shirley Mavis Bjerke and Jimmy Aubrey Hoag.
Debra was preceded in death by her parents; she is survived by her husband Robert Goode; her brother Norman Hoag and his children. She was also “Kitty Mom” to Sesame, Sophie, Sam, Lucy, Maggie, Kitty, Maggie II, and Snowball over 44 years.
Growing up, Debra and her family lived in 13 different homes in Oklahoma, Washington, Alabama, Texas, and Michigan and attended 18 different schools. She finally moved permanently to Houston, Texas in 1976. Debra and family traveled extensively throughout the United States growing up, where she learned to appreciate how beautiful our country is, often taking weeks to travel to their next home city. She also became an excellent concrete mixer for all the patios she helped her father build in their new homes.
Debra graduated cum laude from Michigan State University, East Lansing Michigan, in 1976 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work. In 1981 she graduated magna cum laude with a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Houston at Clear Lake. Debra met her beloved husband Bob in 1978 in their first business class at UHCLC where they were on the same team project, marrying in 1981. They were life partners until her passing.
Debra’s work career included Supervisor and Rehabilitation Counselor for the Texas State Commission for the Blind in Houston. After getting her MBA, Debra became Practice Administrator of Southwest Cardiovascular Consultants. She then became Senior Medical Practice Management Consultant for The Methodist Hospital System in Houston, where she developed and implemented the Practice Management Consulting Division, personally providing consultations to over 600+ physicians in 32 specialties. In 1994, Debra took her Practice Management Consultant skills to the private sector as an independent consultant, providing another 500+ consultations until her retirement in 2018.
Debra has always enjoyed a walk, hike, or bike ride, in countless parks, preserves, bikeways, and city streets, while traveling with Bob in Houston and nationwide. She also had a good eye for designing and implementing the landscapes for her houses, which she also applied as co-lead of the Pine Brook Community Association landscape committee in her community. From 2008 to 2013, Debra led the Pine Brook Wetland restoration project - removing 7,200+ non-native invasive species from the 8.4-acre south prairie pothole, replanting 4,000+ native species, and organizing 250+ volunteers. She loved volunteering with her friends and neighbors. These projects were done while partnering with Houston Audubon and Galveston Bay Foundation, raising over $25,000 from residents, and saving the community over $250,000 – all while turning an infested, overgrown wet area into a vibrant, animal and environmentally friendly, community education and recreation area.
Using her recently sharpened flora skills, Debra then worked with community members to restore the 18 Pine Brook community parks and 6 main entrances, along with consulting on several restoration projects throughout Houston. She then moved on to volunteer with Exploration Green!, a Clear Lake flood water detention area created on an old golf course starting in 2012. Debra co-led the landscaping portion of the community involvement forums and became a member of Board of Directors when the organization incorporated in 2015. She led the landscaping and tree nursery activities, finally resigning from the Board in 2018. For her environmental work, Debra received recognition for Exploration Green via the Clear Lake City Water Authority - Community Champion Award, Galveston Bay Area Chapter Master Naturalists - Treasures of the Bay Award, Houston Regional Group of the Sierra Club - Special Service Award, and Trees for Houston - Arbor Award.
In her spare time, Debra was quite good at making original greeting and Christmas cards, fused glass art objects, glass bead jewelry, and crystal wands. Her friends looked forward to receiving Debra’s custom art objects on birthdays, holidays and special occasions.
Family and friends are invited to a Memorial Celebration, from 1:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m., Saturday, January 28, 2023 at Joseph J. Earthman Generations, 234 Westcott Street, Houston, Texas. Scattering of her ashes will be in San Luis Obispo, California at a private ceremony.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Exploration Green! https://www.explorationgreen.org/donate or Trees for Houston https://www.treesforhouston.org/donate in Debra’s name.
