This is news for the many people in Malibu who knew Debbie and know her husband and children. I’ll be writing the obituary as soon as possible. Her father-in-law, Fred Purucker did the cartoons for the newspaper for many years, and you are still using them:)
Debbie Purucker, a long-time resident of Malibu and mother of four, passed away December 17, 2018 at the age of 55. On November 9, during the Woolsey fire, she and her husband John stayed at their home to protect it from the fast moving fire. When she saw the fire getting close, she yelled to John to get off the roof. As soon as he made his descent, an inferno erupted, incinerating their hand-built home of almost 30 years. They ran for their lives up the steep driveway and went to join the rest of the family they had helped evacuate to the beach. Not long after, John had to take her to the hospital with respiratory problems from smoke inhalation. After five weeks in the hospital, she passed away peacefully with her family around her.