Quiet Strength and Steady Roots: Debra Parker-Menear

A Portrait in Practical Light

Debra Parker-Menear moves through life like someone who prefers measured steps to fanfare — steady, capable, and quietly present. Born Debra Dee Parker in 1960, she is an American real estate professional based in Ada, Michigan, and the longtime spouse of radio personality Kevin Matthews (born Kevin Menear, March 12, 1956). Though much of the public attention on the family falls to Kevin’s radio career and creative projects, Debra’s own story is one of professional competence, family devotion, and a preference for private life over publicity.

Basic Information

Family & Home: A Quiet Constellation

Family is the loudest, and yet softest, pattern in Debra’s public biography. Married to Kevin Matthews around 1983, the couple’s partnership spans more than four decades and includes two adult children and four grandchildren as of 2025. Kevin’s career in radio — a life lived partly in the public ear — and his health journey since a multiple sclerosis diagnosis in 2008 have shaped the household’s narrative. Through it all, Debra appears as the rooted trunk to the family’s branches: present at holidays, visible in family photos, and referenced in affectionate social posts by her husband.

The family makeup can be summarized numerically:

These numbers tell a simple story: three generations, active family ties, and a household woven tightly into everyday life rather than spectacle.

Professional Life: Real Estate as Craft

Debra’s professional identity is built on a practical craft: selling homes. Since at least 2019 she has been associated with JH Realty Partners, operating in Kent County, Michigan, with a focus that includes communities like Forest Hills. Earlier career activity lists The Gordon Group as a previous affiliation. Her work centers on single-family residential transactions — the bread and butter of neighborhood life — and her footprint shows deals and listings reflective of a mid-career realtor sustaining a stable local practice.

Numbers give shape to that work:

• Active with JH Realty Partners: 2019–present (at least).
• Noted transaction totals in recent years: over $655,000 in handled deals (aggregate reported).
• Typical listing examples: single-family homes, 3–5 bedroom properties, mid-to-upper market within Kent County.

Her public profiles show modest online presence: a private Instagram account with a small follower list, a Pinterest board aligned with home décor interests, and a limited LinkedIn network. Those details paint the picture of a professional who values reputation within the local market more than broad online promotion.

Timeline: Dates and Milestones

This timeline reads like the scaffolding of an ordinary but full life: education, partnership, parenting, professional evolution, and multigenerational family milestones.

Public Presence and Privacy

Debra’s public footprint is intentionally small. Unlike her husband — whose radio work and creative ventures place him in the public eye — Debra keeps social media minimal and private. Her Instagram is not a public portfolio; Pinterest suggests domestic interests rather than self-promotion. Searches for dedicated media coverage of Debra yield no standalone features as of 2025. Mentions that do appear are woven into Kevin’s public posts, interviews, or family-centered moments: anniversary notes, holiday photos, and references to mutual gratitude.

That choice of privacy resembles a shaded porch: visible to those who know to come there, but sheltered from the glare of the street. The tradeoff is clear. It preserves family life and personal boundaries while making biographical detail sparse for outsiders.

The Family Dynamic in Numbers

• Years married (approx.): 42 (c. 1983 → 2025).
• Children: 2.
• Grandchildren: 4.
• Years in Michigan (since relocation around): 2008 → 2025 = 17+ years.
• Approximate age in 2025: 65.

These figures are small anchors. They mark time and relationships, and they reveal the priorities that define Debra’s public image: family and steady work.

Character Sketch: Understated, Competent, Present

If a single metaphor could hold Debra’s public self, it would be that of a well-tended garden behind a modest fence. Not everything in it is visible from the sidewalk, but the care is evident in the healthy growth. She cultivates family life, tends a professional practice, and shelters personal details from wide broadcast. Her voice — where it exists in public — is often heard through the reflections and gratitude of others, especially her husband, who occasionally lifts the curtain to show appreciation for “Deb” and the life they built together.

Practical, private, and resilient: those are the defining strokes in the portrait that public records and family traces allow us to draw. Numbers and dates provide the frame; the family moments give the color.