Share This Article
Deborah Jeanne Clarke passed away at her home in West Falmouth, MA, on May 11, 2026, a week after her 70th birthday. Although she never smoked, she endured with courage and grace a 14 month battle with lung cancer.
Debbie was born in Baltimore, MD on May 3, 1956. She was the first born of four to Edward O. Clarke Jr. of Baltimore and Pearl Rhea (Parker) Clarke of Lewiston, NC.
Debbie attended what is now Archbishop Spalding High School, before graduating from Severn School, Severna Park, MD, where she was a member of the Drama Club and contributed to the school yearbook. Her high school nickname was “the girl next door”.
Debbie skipped her senior year of high school to begin her undergraduate education, following in her father’s footsteps at Loyola College-Baltimore. While in college, Debbie was active in several extra-curricular organizations. She was an editor and regular contributor to The Greyhound, the school newspaper, with a column she named “Jaws-A Poor Man’s Eating Guide.” She graduated with high honors and was inducted into the National Jesuit Honor Society.
After college, Debbie attended the University of Virginia School of Law, Charlottesville, graduating in the class of 1980. It was in her second year there that she met the light of her life and future husband, J. (Jay) Kendall Huber.
Debbie, then age 23, and Jay married in 1980, soon after Jay was commissioned in the U.S. Navy (JAG). They lived in Annapolis, MD and Sicily, Italy, over the ensuing four years. After Jay was discharged, they moved to Debbie’s Baltimore hometown, where they lived for 15 years.
While in Baltimore, Debbie earned her Masters in Social Work from the University of Maryland. She was a litigation attorney with the Baltimore law firm of Anderson Coe and King, and was a social worker at Jewish Family Services.
Shortly after Jay’s and Debbie’s precious son, Alexander (Alex) Clarke Huber, entered their world, Debbie dedicated her time and energy to being a wife, mother and friend. She was an outstanding cook and an even better baker, having worked in bakeries in Baltimore and then after the family moved to Massachusetts, in Wellesley and Concord. Debbie loved to make people happy with her cooking and baking- especially Alex and his friends as he was growing up. More than one mom called to complain that their child said they would only eat sloppy joes or other dishes if “Alex’s mom” made them.
After a brief stint in Memphis, TN, Jay, Debbie and Alex moved to Sudbury, MA, where they lived for 20 years before moving to West Falmouth, MA in 2020. In Sudbury, Debbie and a close friend put Debbie’s fine, and sometimes whimsical, taste to good use in a successful home staging business.
Debbie smiled easily. She loved to laugh and more so, to make others laugh. She loved holidays, especially Halloween, where their house was a magnet for those who loved over-the-top creepiness and animatronics. Valentine’s Day, Easter, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving and Christmas were just as decked out.
Debbie was deeply introspective, principled and caring. She was fiercely loyal to her family and friends. A lover of tea, anyone was welcome to enjoy a cup with her. She loved beauty- there was never a sunset unworthy of multiple photographs. She was kind and caring- she loved much and was much loved.
Debbie’s last wishes were for her family and friends to live “Beautiful Lives”. In lieu of flowers, she asked people to turn to their loved ones, remembering that life is uncertain, fragile and precious, and tell them how much they love them, and if estranged from anyone, give them a call and simply say, “I was thinking of you, and wondered how you are doing.”
Debbie will be dearly missed by her family and many dear and loyal friends. In addition to Jay and Alex, she leaves behind her sisters, Catherine Ann Clarke, Lutherville, MD and Carolyn Clarke Gartner, Cross Junction, VA, and Carolyn’s husband, Peter; her brother, Edward O. Clarke III, Hampstead, MD, and his wife, Kirsten; Jay’s brothers and sisters, John J. Huber, Santa Fe, NM; Richard J. Huber, Rio Rancho, NM; Anita B. Workman, Lexington, NC; and Victoria L. Smith, Dickinson, TX, and their spouses; and numerous nieces and nephews.