Debra Diane Newman ’76

Debbie died Feb. 8, 2022, in New York, of breast cancer. She lived in Brooklyn Heights for the past 30 years and loved everything about New York.

Raised in Long Island, Debbie graduated from North Babylon High School, where she excelled at debate. After graduating cum laude from Princeton with a degree in sociology, she continued her studies and earned a law degree cum laude at Georgetown Law School. Debbie was a member of ABPA.

Debbie first settled in Washington, D.C., and began her distinguished 23-year career at the U.S. Department of Justice. She later returned to New York, where she served as a federal prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York. She retired early to assist in the care of her mother, Jane, after a devastating stroke. 

In Brooklyn, she volunteered at a hospital holding babies who had been abandoned. She adopted a boy with mental and physical challenges, and raising him brought her great joy. 

Debbie later decided to change careers to pursue her passion for teaching, as a professor at Touro Law Center and as a fulltime high school teacher with the New York City Public School System. She taught debate and led many students on to debate team championships. She was especially proud when they won an award that gave them the opportunity to perform on stage with the Broadway cast of Hamilton.

The class officers extend condolences to Debbie’s son, Anthony; her father Peter; her brother, Peter Jr.; and her sister Lisa.