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ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Deborah Foland, a former longtime administrative assistant for The Associated Press in New York state, has died after a brief battle with cancer. She was 61.
Steven Foland said his wife of 32 years died Sunday at a Schenectady hospital after being diagnosed with lung and brain cancer.
A native of Troy, Debi Foland was hired by the AP's Albany bureau in 1984. She spent the next 25 years handling duties such as coordinating the annual awards contests for the news agency's New York membership. Her efficiency and personable demeanor made her known to journalists and news executives across the state.
"Debi Foland was devoted to The Associated Press and its members," said David Marcus, former Albany bureau chief and the AP's director of Business Planning and Analysis for AP Local Media. "The staff and so many of our members loved her for the work she did and the care she took with everything she did. I was her boss, but she taught me more than I could ever teach her."
Foland left the AP in 2009, then spent seven years working for a law firm in her suburban Albany hometown of Halfmoon.
In addition to her husband, she's survived by two sons, two daughters, two sisters, nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
A funeral Mass is being held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at St. Mary's Church in Crescent, near her home.
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