- November 1, 2024
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After several months battling lung cancer, debi Peterson, longtime executive officer of the Flagler Home Builders Association, died Monday, Sept. 3.
Peterson ran the association for 18 years, overseeing the years during the housing boom that made Flagler County the fastest-growing area in the U.S. and the recession that followed.
Under Peterson’s leadership, the Flagler HBA was presented 25 National Association of Home Builders Association of Excellence awards and won numerous national membership drives. In 2004, Peterson was named the NAHB New Executive of the Year, and in 2016, she was named the Florida Home Builders Association’s Dick Baker recipient.
“We knew it was coming, but we didn’t expect it to be that fast at the end,” Flagler HBA President Roy Waldhauer said of her death. “She was definitely the lifeblood of our association.”
Peterson is survived by her husband, Robert, daughter, Holly Cangialosi, grandson, Landen, and a new grandson due in December.
“She was the greatest woman I’ve ever known,” Cangialosi said. “She never had a problem or issue that she wasn’t able to find a solution for. Everything she did was to help everybody else — even in her last moments.”
