Debbie Wenger, 71, of Camarillo, California passed away peacefully beside her husband on August 29, 2023 while traveling across country to visit family and friends.

Debbie was born on September 30, 1951 to Jack and Joyce Kuehl who lived in West Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  By the time Debbie was three, Jack and Joyce, had purchased their lifelong residence on Armour Avenue in St. Francis, Wisconsin.  Debbie met John Wenger, her husband-to-be, when she was a sophmore at the brand new high school, Saint Francis High, which sat upon a great hill overlooking Lake Michigan. After graduating in 1969, Debbie and John wed in 1971 and spent their nascent years of marriage living in various homes before homesteading in Northern Wisconsin in 1975.  A few years later, they bore their first three children: Wylie, Jessie, and Becky. After moving back to the greater Milwaukee area, they had their fourth child, Ben.

The family of six eventually settled on the lower floor of a duplex across from a high school locally known as "the castle on the hill." A quaint neighborhood in Bay View, Debbie cared for her four children and also looked after some of the children living upstairs. These children have fond memories of going to the Lewellen Library and taking walks to Kohl's and even all the way to Cub Foods with the red wagon in tow.

The family eventually moved to another neighborhood in Bay View and then to Maryland, where Debbie was thrilled to decorate and furnish a beautiful historic home.

Debbie, an avid lover of music and a talented pianist, played piano from the age of eight through her return to college in the late 1990s. In these years, Debbie earned a BA in Horn Performance from the prestigious University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB). Her children remember the Oxnard home as being a space full of beautiful piano playing, their mother sitting downstairs in the high-ceilinged living room/foyer, her fingers running up and down the keyboard playing complex classical pieces masterfully. Debbie also played the french horn, a skill she had acquired in high school, but abandoned. Still new to their home in Oxnard, Debbie resumed practicing the horn and was surprised when the police showed up. Apparently, a neighbor had called with a noise complaint!

After roughly a decade in California, John, Debbie, and Ben moved to Arkansas where Debbie taught prekindergarten in Decatur Elementary School before ultimately moving back to California in 2019 to be near their grandchildren. Debbie spent her final years substitute teaching, returning to her love of piano playing, and going on trips to spend time with family and friends.

Although Debbie loved music, she loved her family more. Her love of her children extended to the neighborhood kids, who were always welcomed into her home. Her love extended to the friends of her children, which were likewise welcome. Debbie loved her grandchildren greatly, as you can see in the precious photos captured of her with Ava and Nathaniel. Her compassion for others and even for wild animals in her backyard often moved her to tears.

Debbie was predeceased by father John Kuehl, mother Joyce Kuehl and son, Benjamin Wenger. She is survived by husband, John Wenger; brother, Jim Kuehl; sister Stacey Krevs; children: Jessica Horowitz, Rebecca Sparks, and Wylie VanWenger; and grandchildren: Ava and Nathaniel Horowitz.

The family welcomes friends and loved ones to the memorial. Let us remember her life and share our love of her with one another. The memorial will be held at the Camarillo Springs Recreation Center at 6358 Irena Avenue in Camarillo, CA 93012 on October 25th at 3:00 pm. Please use this website to RSVP.

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