NEWS

Delaware Backstory: Del. loses a pioneer

robin brown
The News Journal
Dr. C. Patricia Turner Debnam

Delaware lost a pioneer and community hero in Dr. C. Patricia Turner Debnam.

Debnam – the state's first African-American woman to become a doctor – died Tuesday at the age of 91.

Her service is this Monday at 11 a.m. at The Episcopal Church of Saints Andrew and Matthew at 719 N. Shipley St., Wilmington, with burial in Gracelawn Cemetery. Instead of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions to the Ronald McDonald House, 1901 Rockland Road, Wilmington, DE 19803.

Debnam was the widow of another groundbreaking public servant, the late Charles H. Debnam, a Ph.D recipient who envisioned and created the Division of State Service Centers system. He also served in other capacities, including leading the state's services for children.

Like her late husband, Dr. Debnam chose public service and chose to stay in Delaware, serving many of those who were in greatest need and least able to help themselves.

Gracious and elegant with a disarming smile, Debnam served many years as a resident psychiatrist at Delaware State Hospital near New Castle, where a building on the campus now bears her husband's name.

She later went on to have a private practice as an obstetrician and general practitioner in Wilmington, where she was born and continuing her public service for more than half a century.

Debnam also shared her knowledge and compassion as a member of the Governor's Advisory Council on Aging. She was a member of the Board of the Matrix Research Institute and the American Medical Association.

She also was a lifetime member of Quota International of Wilmington, which honored her in 2013 for more than 40 years of service with the organization.

Her grandson David Alexander Jenkins posted this photo of Dr. C. Patricia Turner Debnam after Quota International of Wilmington honored her in 2013 for more than 40 years of service.

She and her husband lived in Marshallton, but she moved to Horsham, Pennsylvania, about 10 years ago.

She was the mother of Charlene D. Jenkins, who lives with her husband J. David, in Horsham, and Christopher C.P. Debnam, who lives with his wife Barbara in Wilmington. Daughter of the late Patrick William Turner and Helen Esther Henderson Turner, she also is survived by grandchildren David Alexander Jenkins, Morgan Louise Debnam, Ashley Christine Debnam and Christine Lee Berna Link. Her late sister, Helen E. "Betty" Turner Hayes also was a doctor.

In the guest book of Congo Funeral Home, Les and Jackie Roberts posted that "Dr. Turner delivered all 3 of our children. She was a beautiful soul. We will miss her smile...."

In her obituary, Debnam's family shared that when she was asked about challenges faced in her career – based on the views of others particularly regarding her race or gender – she said it was difficult.

But she also was successful because of her philosophy, quoting her as saying, "If someone had a problem with me as a woman or an African American, I always thought it was their problem, not mine."

Amen to that.

And amen to a Delawarean of distinction's life well-lived in the service of others.

Do you have a Delaware Backstory? Tell robin brown at (302) 324-2856, rbrown@delawareonline.com, on Facebook, via Twitter @rbrowndelaware or The News Journal, Box 15505, Wilmington, DE 19850.