Deborah Green West

Deborah Green West, age 88, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, died peacefully at home on Sunday, September 21, 2025, with George Gershwin playing on WQED public radio.

Debbie is survived and sorely missed by her husband of 64 years, Michael West, her daughter, Alexandra West, her grandson, Tobias Edson, her son-in-law, James Edson and many nieces and nephews.  She is preceded in death by her parents, Marvin and Evelyn Green, and her brother, Marvin Green, Jr.  

Born in Syracuse, New York, and growing up in Darien, Connecticut, Debbie attended Abbot Academy, where she first met her husband, Michael.  She later graduated from Wellesley College.  She received a Masters of Social Work from Simmons School of Social Work and practiced as a clinical social worker in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Middletown, Connecticut.  Moving to Pittsburgh, she earned a Doctorate of Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh, practicing for years at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, first on their Brief Treatment Unit, and later the Rape Treatment Research Project.  Eventually, she went into private practice as a psychotherapist, where she was of tremendous help to countless people dealing with diverse challenges and had a particularly expert focus on working with adult survivors of childhood abuse.  

A strong tennis player, Debbie, together with her husband, won the Pittsburgh Public Parks mixed doubles title in 1985.   Throughout much of her life, she regularly played tennis with friends and was active in organizing and administering a women’s tennis league.

After retiring in 2016, Debbie continued to live with her husband in the Shadyside neighborhood, enjoying friends and cultural events in the arts.  The onset of Alzheimer’s complicated her final years by limiting her mobility and impairing her cognition, but she remained a devotee of educational television programs.

Memorial services are private.  Those wishing to make a donation in Debbie’s memory should direct it to either WQED Multimedia, whose television and radio programming Debbie enjoyed immensely to the very end of her life (www.wqed.org), or the Center for Victims, with which she collaborated closely for many years as a social worker (www.centerforvictims.org).

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