After decades of teaching, Debby Norman is still serving her community and leading an active lifestyle.

Debby Norman, 77, is a long-time King City resident and a former schoolteacher. She worked in education for decades teaching kids how to read, write, do math and more. Now she likes to spend her time volunteering, making quilts and exercising. In 2024, she was recognized as Citizen of the Year by the King City Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture.

Norman says she misses being in the classroom, but she finds her former students everywhere from the grocery store to the library or while volunteering. “I did get to teach children of my students, and that was the greatest reward ever,” she says.

She was born in Honolulu, Hawaii where she spent the first few years of her childhood before moving to California, where she has spent most of her life. She started her career as a teacher in Littlerock, near Palmdale, before moving to King City. Norman says she wanted to live near the ocean while her late husband preferred the mountains. “King City has neither,” she notes, but she fell in love with her students and how close-knit the community in King City is.

And it clearly became home; moving away has never been part of her plans. “I’m not going to find a better climate than King City,” Norman says. “I think it’s the jewel of South County.”

The city has grown a lot since her move back in the 1970s, but its spirit hasn’t changed. “Taking care of your neighbor exists at every single level, in every single neighborhood,” she says.

While she was working as an instructor, Norman found herself teaching younger and younger kids and she had a strong motivation: “I don’t ever want to see a child in middle school not really reading.” After retiring in 2006 she continued to substitute teach—in a return she says was not a job. “Subbing was a hobby,” she adds.

Norman learned how to quilt after retiring and became hooked when she took a beginner class. She is now a member of  Valley Heritage Quilt Guild, which includes quilters from througout the Salinas Valley.

Besides quilting, she’s also a regular at Kasey’s Fitness Academy in King City, where she practices yoga and tai chi to keep fit and socialize with others. “I don’t want to lose the ability to move,” she says.

Norman also volunteers to drive neighbors to doctor appointments and ushers for the Monterey County Dance Foundation. She also enjoys writing. She often writes newsletter articles for her church and the Quilt Guild.

“Volunteering gets to be fun,” Norman says, “because while you’re out there volunteering, you might find one of your kids. I tell them, ‘Once you’re in my classroom, you are mine forever.’”

This story was published in the 2026-2027 Best of Monterey Bay® Living Well magazine, a resource guide created in collaboration by the County of Monterey Area Agency on Aging and the Monterey County Weekly. Copies are available from the AAA office, 730 La Guardia St, Salinas, most local senior-serving nonprofits, community centers and care centers. Plus at the Weekly, 668 Williams Ave., Seaside, and online.