Deborah Sue Ezzio

Deborah Sue Ezzio went home to be with Jesus on May 29, 2025. She was born to David and Pamela Cirksena on June 10, 1966 and grew up in Des Moines, IA as a proud Eastsider.

Debbie was an amazing, beautiful, strong -willed woman who was a giver with a huge heart full of love. Her spirit was a tapestry of contradictions: hard-headed yet soft-hearted, “always right” yet open to wonder. She kissed her children and grandchildren saying “come give me some sugar, sugar” a devotion that reverberated through generations, her “ride-or-die” loyalty a constant beacon.

The thing Debbie loved the most were all of her grandbabies and great grandbaby, who knew her as Mimi. They were her entire world.

As a bartender, she poured more than drinks—she poured wisdom, laughter, and solace into the glasses of strangers who soon became friends and family. One of her best talents was knowing, and being there, when someone needed her the most. Her bar was a sanctuary where conspiracy theories were thoroughly discussed, fun and dancing were always present, and where every soul felt heard, understood, and welcome.

A huge lover of animals, she rescued every stray soul that crossed her path, nurturing them with the same boundless generosity she gave her family and friends. Not many people can get wild bunnies and squirrels to eat out of their hand, but she could and did.

She was a tinkerer—remaking picture frames into memory boards; she could fix or build almost anything. Some of her favorite things were music, squirrels and hummingbirds, gardening and flowers, and Jose Cuervo!

Though her roar has quieted, her legacy endures in our fertile gardens she helped plant, in rescued paws that remember her kindness, and in hearts that pulse with her indomitable spirit. In her memory, we’ll dance the night away, always knowing she’s with us fiercely and whole.

She’s survived by her father, David (Cheryl) Cirksena, sister Mary Alice (Mikey) Mullin, daughters Michelle Ezzio (Jesse), Madison Williamson (Travis), and son David Ezzio (Ashley), grandsons, Michael Lopez (Jenna), Christopher Ezzio, Joseph Williamson, David Ezzio Jr, Samuel Williamson, and J.J. Wood, granddaughters, Kylee Ezzio (Dre), Elizabeth Owens (Cruz), Taylor Ezzio, Abigail Ezzio, Lucille Williamson, Lilliana Wood and great granddaughter Aaliyah Delort-Ezzio, nieces Amanda Watts (Joe), Katie Byrkett, great nephews Matthew Byrkett, Jack Watts, and great niece Emma Watts, and many other family and friends who loved her dearly.

She’s preceded in death by her mother, Pamela Cirksena, and grandparents Joe and Betty Gosek, Hank and Mozel Cirksena, and her sweet punkindoo Zoey.

Her celebration of life visitation service will be this Wednesday, June 4, 2025, from 5-7p.m and her funeral service will be Thursday, June 5, 2025, at 11a.m. both at Hamilton’s Funeral Home on Lyon. Burial to follow at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Des Moines.

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