WEST VIRGINIA RECORD

WELLSBURG -- Brooke County Magistrate Deborrah K. Lunsford died Wednesday, Oct. 28, at her Wellsburg home of cancer. She was 57.

Lunsford served from Dec. 6, 1986, to Dec. 31, 1992, and again from Jan. 1, 2001, until her death. From her diagnosis in early May, she worked in between her treatments. Senior Status Magistrates Nancy Means and Rose Humway filled in while she was away.

"She was known as being an outstanding public servant who never failed to volunteer to help people in need. Her sense of justice will be missed," said Supreme Court Chief Justice Brent D. Benjamin.

Supreme Court Administrative Director Steve Canterbury said, "She was a forward-thinker and crucial to the development of the highly successful community corrections program in the First Circuit."

"Magistrate Lunsford was dedicated to her position. She had a long battle with cancer. We will miss her," said Tucker County Magistrate Riley Barb, President of the West Virginia Magistrates Association.

Lunsford was born Jan. 3, 1952, in Wheeling. She was a member of the Franklin United Methodist Church in Wellsburg.

She is survived by her husband, James W. Lunsford; two sons; one daughter; two sisters; and four grandchildren.