Deborah Traher Rawlings
August 8, 1952 – August 15, 2022
IDAHO FALLS, ID – Deborah Traher Rawlings, 70, of Idaho Falls, died at the family home on August 15, 2022, of a lingering illness.
She was born August 8, 1952, in Elko, NV, to Norman and Evelyn Danner Traher. She attended Elko schools and graduated from Elko High School in 1969. She attended Idaho State University, Elko Community College, and BYU-Hawaii before transferring and graduating from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. She received a BS degree in Social Work.
While at ISU, she and her good friend from Elko went to see Elvis Presley perform at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City. He asked them to become “groupies”. They were sent tickets to many of his concerts and the front row entrance TCB necklaces.
In 1973, she married James Jackson in the Salt Lake City Temple. Their son, Joshua Jackson, was born on Christmas Eve 1975.
Because of Debbie’s outgoing personality and sales experience in her parent’s shoe store in Elko, she worked for Avon where she increased sales to be named a supervisor and later an area director. She won many sales contests.
She was in the MGM Grand hotel in Las Vegas to see her cousin at the time of a great fire in 1980. She was a survivor after having first been designated deceased.
After a period of time, she went to work for Fuller Brush and was in Kansas City in 1981 on the night of the Hyatt Hotel skywalks catastrophe. She was also a miracle survivor of that disaster.
She left sales and opened a travel agency in Ogden enjoying meeting many people and traveling to interesting places.She was brought to Idaho Falls by her former employer Avon to cover the Upper Snake River region. She completed her social work degree after moving to Idaho Falls and used her degree to be a hospice social worker for Good Samaritan.
After her divorce, she met and married Gary M. Rawlings in the Idaho Falls Temple on July 30, 1993. Through this marriage, she supported Gary in his work at Harris Publishing Co., until his retirement in 2005. They blended two families with her son and Gary’s five children.
She enjoyed beading, crocheting, collecting her favorite things, and making beautiful bouquets of silk flowers.
She is survived by her brothers: Norman (Geri) Traher of Tucson, AZ and Fred (Clara) Traher of St. George, UT; her husband, Gary; her son, Joshua (Jennifer) Jackson and their children: Nathan, Mason, and Maxsim all of Rigby, ID; five step-children: Tim Rawlings of Logan, UT, Wendy (Paul) Hathaway of Grand Island, FL, Chris (Ashley) Rawlings of Snowflake, AZ, Darin (Andrea) Rawlings of Ammon, ID, and Patty (Chris) Sargis of Idaho Falls, ID; 18 grand children; many cousins, nieces, and nephews.
She is predeceased by her parents, grandparents, uncles, and aunts.
Funeral services will be held at 1:00 pm, Friday, August 19, 2022, in the Kearney Ward chapel, 1860 Kearney St., Idaho Falls, with a visitation held beginning at noon at the church with Bishop Blaine Ward officiating.
Arrangements are under the direction of Coltrin Mortuary in Idaho Falls. Interment will be in the Charleston Town Cemetery in Heber City, Utah at the side of her mother.
Published by Elko Daily on Aug. 18, 2022.
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