DFW News App

Debby Brachman Rice, 81, was a longtime board member for the Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth. (Courtesy photo | David Smiley Irvin)
” data-medium-file=”https://fortworthreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Debby-Rice-scaled-e1725488244983.jpg?fit=284%2C300&ssl=1″ data-large-file=”https://fortworthreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Debby-Rice-scaled-e1725488244983.jpg?fit=780%2C825&ssl=1″ tabindex=”0″ role=”button”>As the Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth begins its 2024-2025 season, there will be a noticeable absence in the audience.Longtime board member Deborah Rae Brachman Rice, 81, died in her sleep July 14 at Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center.Debby, as she was known by her friends and family, will be honored at the chamber’s first concert of the season, which will take place at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14, at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 3200 Darnell St.Debby was known for her tireless volunteerism, sharp sense of humor and uncanny ability to curse like a sailor whether the situation called for it or not.“She inspired people. She got them laughing and would cut through the B.S. in order to … accomplish something,” her son, Todd Rice, said. “(She) had a love for life that really didn’t know any bounds.”Debby stayed at home to raise her two boys, Mark and Todd, and later would care for her parents Leon and Fay Brachman.Debby had a passion for several charitable causes in her hometown of Fort Worth, including reading with elementary students, serving with the Jewish women burial society’s Chevra Kadisha, and designing programs for the chamber music society — which her father co-founded. “Debby had a great joy of living. I think that’s probably one of her most salient qualities that I would describe, even in these last months,” fellow chamber music society board member Alice Cushman said. “It came as something of a surprise to learn of her death. But, I think of that, perhaps as an example of the joyousness of her spirit, as she was facing really hard times.”Gary Levinson, artistic director for the Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth, worked closely with Debby and said she was always eager to learn more about the music. “She is going to be sorely missed — already she has been,” Levinson said. “She loved our outreach programs and how we work with young people to share the magic of music with them.” Though she was not a musician, she had a great passion for it, Todd said.“That’s kind of the irony of my mom,” Todd said. “It’s kind of a hard thing to grasp, but, you know, she was a little bit above the law, double parking and all that kind of stuff. … But at the same time she was usually double parking because she had to take bags of food into a shelter or something. And so she felt, well, it was justified.”A Valentine’s Day baby, Debby was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1943 but her family moved to Fort Worth when she was 1.She graduated from Paschal High School and attended the University of Texas at Austin, where she met Melvin Rice. The couple married, had two children and later divorced.She is preceded in death by her parents Leon and Fay Brachman and sister Ellen Brachman.She is survived by her siblings Marshall Brachman (married to Anne) and Wendy Brachman Fisher (married to Warren), her sons Mark and Todd Rice, daughter-in-law Ellen Rice (married to Mark) and four grandchildren Max, Nathan, Miles and Sabrina Rice.Marcheta Fornoff covers arts and culture for the Fort Worth Report. Reach her at marcheta.fornoff@fortworthreport.org. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.