Deborah Trask Aufdenspring Memorial

Deborah Trask Aufdenspring, solo female backpacker, bundle of sweet, has hiked her last trail
and taught her last class. Deborah died December 20th, 2021 at her home in Nevada City. Her
husband Gary and friends Pat and Kathy were with her.
She was born May 5, 1944 or as she liked to chortle “five,five,four,four.” She was adopted
by Ozell and Barbara Trask. She had a sister, Melinda, who passed before her.
Deborah was raised in a middle-class home in Phoenix, Arizona. She graduated from High
School in 1962 then went to Wheaton College in Massachusetts. She married her first husband
there. She received her first bachelor degree from San Diego State.
Deborah had a strong urge to help end the war in Vietnam. She volunteered to be a draft
counselor and a military counselor. During this time she became a Quaker at La Jolla meeting.
Doing this work, Deborah met her second husband Gary Aufdenspring. They were each married to
others then. It took until 1976 to get married in Tuolumne County. She was a long time member of
Grass Valley Friends Meeting.
She had two other loves in her life (besides Gary) : backpacking and teaching. She
received her first teaching credential from Sac State in Social Studies. She also had a Masters degree
and another teaching credential, on the use of computers in education. Deborah worked hard to
get computers in the schools when this was not common. She was one of five founding teachers at
New Technology High School in Napa. She helped start and teach in Technology High Schools in St.
Paul Minn. And Vallejo,Ca. Besides teaching she developed a second career in consulting and
recruiting to open small Technology High Schools in Carson City, Birmingham, and San Francisco and
others.

She was a person who truly cared about her students. She found ways to bring food in for
breakfast for those she knew didn’t have any and not make it obvious to their classmates. She
understood that she had been privileged as a child growing up and always reached out to those who
were not so privileged.
Deborah loved backpacking in the Sierras, solo & with others. She also backpacked in the
Grand Canyon after meeting Colin Fletcher, the noted backpacking Author.
Deborah had many serious medical issues throughout her life. But she had great medical
help and lived a good life. Deborah is survived by her husband Gary and many other wonderful
relatives, friends, and students, plus her dog, Jesse.
Her memorial will happen Saturday, June 11th at 1p.m. It will be in-person at Sierra Friends
Center, 13075 Woolman Lane, Nevada City, Ca. The memorial will also be available live, via Zoom.
To use Zoom, e-mail june11memorial4deborah@gmail.com before hand and you will receive the link.
It is Deborah’s heartfelt wish that someday on a nice sunny day or on a wet rainy or foggy
day you stop, Just STOP and think how wonderful your life is.

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