Sankey, Deborah

Born in Canton, Deborah Sankey flourished within her eccentric and loving New England family. She moved to McGill University in Montreal and soon met Lloyd Sankey.

They married and along came children and, more recently, grandchildren: Christopher, Jonathan (Sonia, Mason, Madelaine) and Gretchen (Yashin, Hannah, Dexter). In the early 1970s, Deborah traded in her penny loafers for barn boots, and together she and our father hand-built an ever-expanding house and farm. They made a life of staring down authority of any sort, including social class divisions, aesthetics, religion, gender roles, and parenting conventions. Over the 62 years they spent together, Lloyd and Deborah expanded the concept of the possible and taught us to embrace fearlessness, especially in acts of love, invention, and adventure.

While managing the farm and motherhood, Deborah also returned to university and became a landscape architect.

Lloyd died on January 27, 2020, and Deborah has just joined him on January 9, 2026. Both knew they were profoundly loved.

The hardships of the past few years have often threatened to eclipse the spirit of effervescent wonder and strength that they instilled. But that pain is proving transitory, and we now find ourselves comforted by a deep sense of possibility, love, gratitude, and the joy of lives well lived.

Deborah Sankey has moved on, gone ahead. We have no doubt that one day we will join her, just as we did in this life. While we will most definitely miss her, she is still deeply and essentially within us. Thank you, Mom, our strong, sweet angel, for literally everything.

In lieu of flowers or donations, please consider engaging in more kind acts of randomness.

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Posted by Canton Citizen on Jan 22 2026. Filed under Obituaries. Both comments and pings are currently closed.