Argus :: Obits :: Debra Sullivan

Debra Michelle Sullivan departed this life on Dec. 16, 2025, at her home in Dubuque, Iowa.

She was born July 29, 1970, the daughter of John M. Sullivan and Annette K. (Shughart) Sullivan in Macomb.

Surviving are her life partner, Mark Dierker; her father, Mike Sullivan (Candy Scanlan) of Colchester; younger brother, Mark Sullivan (Gretchen) of Colchester; nephews Connor Sullivan of Macomb and Andrew Sullivan of Colchester; aunt Lynette Hickle of Astoria; uncles John Sullivan of Plymouth and Steve Sullivan of Astoria; and cousins Gwen Hickle Hillyer (Scott Lawyer) of Adair, Devin Hickle (Laura) of Astoria, Rachel Hickle of Astoria, Evin Hillyer (Jessica Blanchar) of Monroe, Wis., Belle Hiland (Marcus) of Augusta, Nicole (James) Toliver of Chillicothe, Matthew Sullivan of Chillicothe, Lillian Sullivan of Chillicothe and Gavin, Colin and Blake Toliver of Chillicothe.

She was preceded in death by her mother, Annette Sullivan; aunt Betty Pickett Shryack; and uncle Bill Hickle.

She is a graduate of Macomb High School and also sought higher education at Western Illinois University in Macomb and Illinois Central College in Peoria.

She worked for 11 years in the Editorial department of Glencoe/McGraw-Hill Publishing Company in Peoria, where she assisted with producing textbooks in the fields of Technology Education and Family and Consumer Sciences for the high school and post secondary market.

In 1996 while both were helping with a professional fireworks show in Astoria, she met Mark Dierker then a resident of Rushville, and the two fell in love and remained together until her death.

Mark taught her to make custom jewelry and for several years they ran Pink Coyote Designs, making and selling jewelry at local fairs and galleries around Central Illinois. In 2000, when Mark was adopted by a Shawnee elder and given the name Stone Bear, she was given the name Moondancer and in 2005 she and Mark formed Bear Dancer Studios to showcase their artwork. In the 2010s she became an abstract painter and helped Mark start a pop-up art gallery in Dubuque in 2019. In 2021 along with friend John Potter, they started Widdershins Artisan Gallery in Dubuque where she thoroughly enjoyed her job as curator and resident painter.

She loved to read and would read as many as four books a week. She also enjoyed crossword puzzles as well as her artwork and helping her aunt, uncle and cousins with several professional fireworks shows around Central Illinois each summer.

Cremation rites have been accorded and will be interred near her mother in Oakwood Cemetery in Macomb. A memorial for family and friends will be held at Dodsworth-Piper-Wallen Funeral Home in Macomb on Saturday, Jan. 10, at 11 a.m. A Celebration of Life will be planned in Dubuque, and announced in the coming weeks.

Donations in her memory may be made to The Veteran’s Freedom Center in Dubuque or your local public library as reading was very important to her.