Debra Lynne Odening
24 May 1960 14 March 2021
Beloved wife and mother, Debra Odening, passed away peacefully, courageously and with amazing grace, in her Santa Monica home, at 4:24PM, on Sunday, March 14, 2021. Debra fought off the return of cancer in 2015 after a 10 year hiatus. For 6 long years, Debra and her family battled subsequent recurrences and treatments. Throughout this battle, Debra taught full time, never bowing to the ravages of cancer- not even for a moment. She was a vital and fearless beauty.
Debra, AKA Mom and Dobie, liked to: talk and text with all her sons throughout the day, exercise in the mornings, plan for upcoming travel (especially Europe and Cabo), complete all the preparation for her teaching, shop for gifts for others online, tidy up the house, watch her programs in the evening, read, go for a bike ride, make plans with friends, and go to the movies and dinner. She had an effortless discipline to her daily ritual. And oh- how Debra could do more than anyone in a day! Always planning and scheduling, she took care of all her boys’ friends and girlfriends while reminding us of upcoming appointments and to do’s. She wasn’t shy about exhorting us to achieve but she was both savvy and cagey with her delight in our efforts to do so. You always knew when she was thinking through something as her left hand would be twirling a wisp of her hair on her forehead. She had this wonderful laugh and she was devoted to her cats- especially Cupcake and Crockett. She had a big heart and she has all of ours.
Born at Cedars Sinai, a 2 pound baby entering neonatal intensive care 3 months ahead of schedule, to her mother, Sarah, and father, Seymour, she was the middle child and only girl.
Debra graduated from Webster Junior High, University High School, earned a BA with honors from San Francisco State and a Masters Degree from Cal State Northridge. By the age of 11, Debra knew she would be a teacher. Though born without sight in her left eye, Debra participated in multiple sports and activities like ballet and Girl Scouts growing up. Coached by her father, she excelled in sports, culminating in First Team All City as pitcher for 1978 University High School Women’s Softball Team- pitching all shutouts that year. As an adult, she continued a very active life: leading aerobics classes at Santa Monica Athletic Club (now known as The Bay Club), participating in marathons (with her future husband), and volunteering at her sons’ schools - all while teaching full time.
Debra began her career in Santa Monica in 1982 as a substitute teacher at John Muir Elementary. She did a stint at Palisades Village School prior to teaching for Los Angeles Unified School District in 1986. Her years as special educator at Revere Middle School from 1991 to 2003 were her favorite, before taking a couple years off to be a fulltime mom. She returned to full time teaching in 2006 after fighting off her first bout with cancer. Her most recent assignment was at Saturn Elementary, where she’d been teaching since 2015, up until January 2021.
Preceding Debra in passing are: her father, Seymour Kaiserman (1992); her brother, Gregg Kaiserman (1994); and her stepfather, Josef Karlowitsch (2020).
Debra is survived by her loving husband of 31 years, Campbell Odening (married in Palos Verdes, CA on August 5, 1990); her three loving sons, Ryan Odening (b. 1993), Cody Odening (b. 1994), and Chase Odening (b. 2000); her mother, Sarah Karlowitsch, and younger brother, Scott Kaiserman.
