Deborah L. Fishbein

Debby Fishbein/Susan Brandabur

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Deborah Louise Fishbein died at home in Santa Fe on May 22, with her adored dogs Ms. T and Sadie close by. Debby is survived by her brother Gary Kaplan of Los Angeles, lifelong friend Helen Bates of Manhattan,her goddaughter Stella Beatrice Puetz of San Francisco and many loving and devoted friends in Santa Fe, San Francisco and beyond. She was born in Brooklyn on April 7, 1939 to Samuel and Betty Kaplan, who predeceased her. Debby’s husband, the social scientist Martin Fishbein, died in 2009.

Debby grew up in New York City. She graduated from UCLA with a BA in 1960. As newlyweds that year, she and Marty drove to their new home in Champaign, Illinois, making a memorable stop in Santa Fe. Marty held long professorships at the University of Illinois and later at The Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Pennsylvania.

In Champaign, Debby met Susann Craig, who became an enduring friend and was an original partner in the Gallery Ltd., Debby’s vibrant, evolving boutique. The store thrived for 30 years, ultimately settling in an historic bank building to showcase its trove of clothing, jewelry, toys and housewares. At her death Debby was still connected by friendship to many employees from those days.

Wherever they were living, Debby and Marty traveled widely, scouring galleries, auctions and flea markets to assemble first-rate collections of fine art, folk and outsider art, and pottery. In Santa Fe they befriended and championed emerging local artists over decades. In Philadelphia, the Fishbeins lived in a Frank Furness brownstone they restored. After Martin’s death, Debby continued to collect art and made frequent trips to New York to catch dance and theater performances with friends. Santa Fe was the Fishbeins’ second home for decades; Debby moved there full-time in 2018.  

Debby will be remembered as an elegant and charismatic person, a generous hostess, a loyal friend, a gimlet-eyed noticer of everything. She loved to laugh and was known for her biting wit, balanced by a deeply loving heart.

Plans for a memorial service will be announced at a later date. You can make a donation in Debby’s memory to the Santa Fe Animal Shelter & Humane Society: https://sfhumanesociety.org/donate/ or call 505-983-4309 X 1204.