Debra Elaine (Cannon) Hoch

It is with a heavy heart that I relay that Debra E. Hoch, née Cannon, passed into the arms of our loving God at the age of sixty-four on January 26th, 2026, at Longview Regional Hospital.

Debra was born on August 11, 1961, to Jerry and Alta Fern Cannon, née Berry, in Gilmer, TX.

She took pride in being of Irish, Scots Irish, and English descent. In her was combined some of the finest attributes of her recent forebears, the southern grace and charm of the Berrys with the warmth, humor, and resilience of the Cannons.

Her childhood was a happy one spent playing with her close friend Rodney Adkinson, her younger brother Keith Cannon, and numerous cousins and family members. As a young woman Debra was later blessed by the addition of her little sister, Jessica Brummell.

Known for her outgoing personality and striking beauty, she was exceedingly popular among her peers at Union Grove High School where she excelled as a majorette on the drum line. She graduated in the class of 1979. After Union Grove, she had aspirations to become a Kilgore College Rangerette which were curtailed by the tragic illness and death of her mother in 1980.

It was in that same year that she began formally dating another Union Grove alumnus, Paul Hoch, whom she married the following year in 1981. At first the couple lived close to her family before settling in White Oak where they resided for nearly four decades. For forty-five years she was a loving wife to Paul, a cherished daughter-in-law to his mother Roslyn Kammerlohr, and a dear sister-in law to his three siblings Perry Hoch, Jere Singleton, and Tanya Singleton.

Her longtime wish to become a mother was fulfilled when she gave birth to her son Colin Hoch in August of 1988. For thirty-seven years Debra was a devoted mother who both nurtured her son and challenged him to become independent, driven, and accomplished. She had a deep creativity that she expressed in fine calligraphy, sewing, and designing historically themed Halloween costumes for her son. As Colin grew up, Debra remained a close confidant to whom he turned for sage advice throughout the challenges of life. They are alike in countless ways.

In addition to her late friend Kathy Koots, she formed some of her closest and most enduring friendships through her professional life; Larry Chapman, Roxanne Kopp Gipe, and Teresa Drake were her close friends for decades as well as partners in the real estate business.

For nearly thirty years, Debra served as a skilled, well-known, and well-respected real estate agent who helped numerous families find new homes and properties in the Longview area. She took immense pride in applying her sharp intelligence and social tact in serving her clients.

She held herself to high standards and consistently pushed her friends and family to do the same both personally and professionally. Her home office was decorated with motivational quotes.

In her personal time Debra was also consummate Night Owl; she loved the tranquility and freedom of late nights in which she could engage her imagination with historical dramas and laugh at the absurdity of life evident in her favorite reality shows.
A local girl at heart, Debra had a fear of flying and rarely traveled, and yet she was able to see and experience London, New York, New England, and Chicago.

She loved to dance to funk music, disco, southern rock, and classic country. The walls of her home were decorated with prints from nineteenth-century realist and impressionist artists, and she loved Edwardian clothing and the highly stylized architecture of the Art Deco movement.

In September of 2025, Debra began to suffer quietly from mysterious pains and symptoms which intensified over time and eventually robbed her of her mobility. When she was finally diagnosed with stage four metastatic lung cancer it was already very advanced and highly aggressive.

Debra was sent to Dallas to receive a hip replacement in order to regain her mobility and improve her quality of life in preparation for treatment. However, the cancer was by then so advanced that she was robbed of the strength and defiant spirit that she was well known for.

She asked to be returned to Longview where she had lived the course of her life among family and close friends. She passed away peacefully, as a Christian woman, at Longview Regional Hospital just after Midnight on Monday, January the 26th, in the midst of the Winter Storm.

She was deeply touched and appreciative to receive the prayers, well wishes, and joyful visits of numerous friends and family members in her final days before being called home.

Her pain is at an end and now there is only love, eternal and unending. Debra has joined her mother Alta and her father Jerry in the hope of the resurrection and the life of the world to come. She will be laid to rest beside them in West Mountain Cemetery in Upshur County.

She is survived by her husband Paul Hoch, her son Colin Hoch, her brother Keith Cannon, her sister Jessica Brummell, four nieces and three nephews.

Family and friends will gather for a time of visitation on Monday, February 2, 2026 from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m.. A Life Celebration funeral service will be held on Tuesday, February 3, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. in the Cammack Family Chapel.

To state that she fundamentally shaped our lives and brought warmth to a fallen world through her wry humor and sharp intelligence would be the gravest of understatements.

Our hearts are rent asunder; Debra will be forever missed. Please pray for her family and close friends as we both celebrate the beauty of her life well lived and navigate our immense loss.