Oakley Gage Debbs Dies November 26 At Age 11

Oakley Gage Debbs of West Palm Beach, Florida, and a summer resident of Quogue, died from anaphylactic shock on Thanksgiving break, surrounded by his family in Kennebunkport, Maine. He was 11.

Born June 27, 2005, in West Palm Beach, Florida, with his twin sister, Olivia-Merrill Josephine Debbs, he was a member of the Quogue Field Club, playing on its travel tennis team, Hampton Plaque, and winning the club’s mini marathon for his age group. He also worked with the Wildcats at the Junior Sports Group Field Day every summer.

Survivors said he was a consummate gentleman, scholar and athlete. He loved living in Florida, going to the beach where he could Boogie Board, swim, and play soccer with his friends. He especially loved the Bath and Tennis Club. His friends were the most important to him. He held them closely and traveled with a core group wherever he went. He was a competitive athlete, whether competing in his travel soccer league, the junior varsity flag football team at Rosarian Academy, where he was in the fifth grade, skiing in Colorado, or on his swim team at the beach.

He is survived by his father, Robert J. Debbs; mother, Merrill Duemler Debbs; twin sister, Olivia; grandmothers, Catherine Merrill Duemler, all of West Palm Beach, and Mary Cross Dougherty of New Jersey; grandfather, H.T. Rollins and wife Jacqueline Carroll Andrew of California; step-grandmother, Lynn Debbs of Massachusetts; four aunts, three uncles and seven cousins. He was predeceased by his grandfathers, J. Robert Debbs, R. Leigh Duemler, and Joseph P. Dougherty.

There will be a soccer game held in his name on Saturday, December 10, at 10 a.m. at the Palm Beach recreation fields in Palm Beach. A memorial service will follow at 2 p.m. at the Bethesda By-the-Sea Church in Palm Beach, Florida.

A newly formed nonprofit organization, Red Sneakers, has been created in Oakley’s honor. Information is at redsneaker.org. Memorial donations may be made to the foundation.

Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Quattlebaum Funeral Home in West Palm Beach.