GENEVA COUNTY, Ala. (WTVY) – Deborah Justice spent 38 years in Geneva County Schools, first as a cook and then as cafeteria manager, treating every student who came through the cafeteria doors like family.
Justice retired in 2025 after nearly four decades of service. She worked in every school in the Geneva County system.
Deborah Justice named April Silent Hero of the Wiregrass(WTVY)
“I always told the ladies, you know, that always treat this as your house,” Justice said. “How would you want to be, if somebody came to visit you, what would you want the meal to look like?”
Justice said every employee in the system cares about the students.
“I’ve worked in every school in this system,” Justice said. “And there’s not one school in this system that the administration, the teachers, the janitors, lunchroom ladies, that do not care about these kids. We all care about these kids. Every one of them.”
During her time as cafeteria manager, Geneva County Elementary School earned the Healthier US School Challenge Gold Award of Distinction, and Justice was invited to the White House to celebrate.
Geneva County Schools Superintendent Becky Birdsong said Justice was professional, positive and dependable.
“She’s the kind of employee who you want all the rest to model themselves after,” Birdsong said.
Birdsong said Justice always thought of others before herself.
“She is a giving person,” Birdsong said. “And everything she does. She did it in her job. She most especially does it in her family.”
When both of Justice’s daughters were diagnosed with cancer, she was there for every treatment.
Her daughter, Lorin Gomez was diagnosed in 2022 at 35 with head and neck cancer.
“She was there everyday, she was there for every treatment we had, she was just that push we needed to make sure we got better,” Gomez said.
Justice’s other daughter Shanna Adams found out she had breast cancer in 2012 at 27 years old.
“I can remember whenever I had my chemo, the really bad chemo. It really hit me at night. And I had to call her over to the house. And she’s like, just come outside, get some, you know, fresh air,” Adams said. “And I just couldn’t, I couldn’t do it without her.”
Both daughters are now in remission.
Gomez said having a mother as strong-willed as Justice made the difference.
“Just hearing the words you have cancer. That’s a terrible thing to experience in life,” Gomez said. “And so know that you have a mother as strong-willed as she is that will be there for you. It’s just the thing you need in that moment of life.”
It was a hard time they couldn’t imagine enduring without their mom, who steadied them.
“To see them succeed and see them survive is wonderful,” Justice said.
For someone like Justice, the caregiving never stops
“Me being 40 years old, she still gives us a kiss on the cheek,” Adams said.
Justice said it’s all part of what it means to be a mom.
“My girls are heroes. I’m just a mom, and that’s what I am.,” Justice said.
While her daughters are her heroes, they say Justice is their hero.
“She’s our backbone for sure,” Gomez said.
While retired from the school system, Justice will never retire from always showing up for those she loves.
Her legacy is written in every meal she served, and every hand she held in hard times.
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