S Deborah Mancini Wharff

HOLDEN – Deborah Mancini Wharff, 43, of Autumn Circle, died on Tuesday, July 14, 2009, surrounded by her loving family, in her home after an illness.

She is survived by her husband of 12 years, Michael D. Wharff; her 3 children, Matthew, age 10 and twins, Marianna and Nicholas, age 7 of Holden; her parents, Don and Judi (Reinhold) Mancini of Paxton; 3 brothers, Patrick Mancini of Paxton, Donald Mancini and his wife Tina of Holden and Brad Mancini of Worcester; and many aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and most especially her aunt Patricia Haddad of Webster with whom she was very close. Debbie was predeceased by her grandparents, Pat and Mary Mancini of Worcester and Tom and Loretta Hayes of North Andover.

She was born in Worcester and lived in Shrewsbury, Paxton, Alexandria, VA and West Des Moines, IA. Debbie and her family moved to Holden last fall to be closer to her family. She graduated from Notre Dame Academy in 1984, received her Bachelor of Art Degree in Sociology from Clark University in 1988. She spent her junior year of college abroad in England at the University of Sussex. After working in Boston and Arlington, VA, Debbie founded her own company, Mancini Technical Recruiting, and was featured in the Wall Street Journal. She was often requested as a guest speaker on the subject of successful businesswomen.

Throughout Debbie's six-year battle with breast cancer, she was a true inspiration to so many with her fierce determination, her robust laughter and her optimistic attitude. Wanting to do something positive with her life as she faced this disease, Debbie created an annual event called Crop for the Cure where women who scrapbooked came together for an entire day to complete scrapbooking pages and raised funds per page completed. A silent auction was also part of this event. Tens of thousands of dollars were raised through these fundraising events, and every penny collected donated to breast cancer research. In 2006 Debbie was named a National Yoplait Champion for her successful breast cancer fundraising efforts.

Debbie was a devoted wife, loving mother, whose life revolved around her three precious children, Matthew, Mari and Nick. They often scrapbooked together, enjoyed "hat parties" during her chemo sessions and focused on making each day special. Debbie brought sunshine and joy, love and laughter wherever she went and she will be sadly missed by all her knew her.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend calling hours from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 16th in the Miles Funeral Home, 1158 Main Street (Rte. 122A), Holden. Her funeral will be held on Friday, July 17th, from the funeral home with a 10 a.m. Mass of Christian Burial in St. Columba Church, 18 Richards Avenue, Paxton. Burial will follow in Mooreland Cemetery, Paxton. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to Wharff Children Education Trust, c/o Bank of America, 560 Main Street, Holden, MA 01520.

Guestbook & Website: www.milesfuneralhome.com