Debra Ann “Debi” Dufek

Wednesday, February 10, 2021
11:00 am to 1:00 pm
Kassly-Meridith Funeral Home, Collinsville, IL.

Wednesday, February 10, 2021
1:00 pm
Kassly- Meridith Funeral Home, Collinsville, IL

Debra Ann “Debi” Dufek, 65, of Collinsville, IL, passed away peacefully, listening to her favorite music, with her husband and sister by her side, at 5:07 pm, Saturday, January 30, 2021 at Barnes Jewish Hospital, after battling several cancers.

Debra was born, July 17, 1955, in Peoria, IL, to Edward James and Anna May (Inghram) Dufek.

She is survived by her husband, John Zenian, Collinsville,IL; sister, Susan Annette (Thomas) Smith, Willow Springs, MO; and nephew, Benjamin David Smith, Willow Springs, MO.

Her dad was a signalman for the Navy during WWII, received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Iowa and did research at the USDA Agricultural Laboratory in Peoria. Her mom received her B.S and M.S. in Reading Education from Illinois State University, taught 2nd grade at Beverly Manor, in Sunnyland, IL and reading education at Bradley University in Peoria.

Debra took tap and ballet and could do math before entering grade school. She was active in Girl Scouts, and enjoyed playing the piano, sewing, needlecraft and babysitting. In 1973 she graduated from Richwoods High School in Peoria and was a member of the National Honor Society. She played the flute and piccolo in Richwood’s concert and marching bands and attended Illinois Wesleyan Summer Music Camp. She was in the Peoria Park District’s Senior Summer Band and played concerts in seven European countries with them. She also enjoyed playing tennis, ice skating, bicycle trips and baking.

She received a B.S. with honors, in a multi-science program from Western Illinois University in Macomb. While there, she played in the concert band and a baroque quintet. She received a double Masters’ Degree from Western Illinois University in both Archeology and Geology. She spent summers excavating and cataloguing artifacts at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site and surveying the Black Hill Mountains in South Dakota where she learned to rappel.

Debra received her Ph.D. in 1987 in Paleobotony from Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, where she studied pallenology. She met Asa (John) Jacob Zenian, while he was working on his post Doctorate at MSU and they were married on June 5, 1981 in East Lansing. They moved to San Diego where she worked as an office secretary in the Navy.

They later moved to St. Louis, MO, where she started as a field agent in Collections, for the IRS and advanced to Team Leader at the Court of Appeals in Chicago, IL. She oversaw cases, testified in court and ran training seminars. She earned her M.B.A. and was her parent’s financial planner. She retired in 2017 after 30 years working at the IRS, where she had earned the Albert Glattin Award from the U.S. Department of the Treasury. After retirement she moved to Collinsville, IL.

Debra enjoyed exploring state and national parks and forests, zoos, caves, botanical and butterfly gardens, museums and monuments throughout the U.S., Mexico and Brazil with her family, appreciating the beauty and richness of life and history. She played in the coastal waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf of Mexico. She boated down the Amazon and delivered school supplies to remote villages along the farthest reaches of Brazil’s Negro River. She toured the Pyramids and Sphinx and visited with the Bedouins in Egypt.

She enjoyed houseplants, gardening, jigsaw puzzles, Sudoku, going to ballgames and was an avid tennis fan. She liked watching classic movies, competitive singing and dancing shows, as well as, nature, science, travel and discovery documentaries. She was well read, kept up with multiple newspapers, enjoyed discussions on religion, morality, and justice, and she appreciated good humor.

Debra loved her family and friends, spending time with them at picnics, BBQ’s, fairs, fireworks, sing-a-longs, concerts, dinners out, and get togethers at home. She was devoted to her family, adored her husband, treasured by her friends and was very close to and shared a mutual admiration with her sister. She made her home a comforting oasis amidst the harshness of the outside world. She was strong, adventurous, faithful, fun loving, sensitive and kind-hearted; she will be most deeply missed.

Friends may leave their condolences or a memory, at www.hakassly.com or www.meridithfuneralhome.com or mail a card to Kassly-Meridith Funeral Home, 515 Vandalia St., Collinsville, IL 62234.

Visitation: Wednesday, February 10, 2021, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm, Kassly-Meridith Funeral Home, Collinsville, IL.

Funeral Service: Wednesday, February 10, 2021, 1:00 pm, Kassly- Meridith Funeral Home, Collinsville, IL

Interment: Buck Road Cemetery, Maryville, IL.

Kassly-Meridith Funeral Home, Collinsville, IL