LB Woman Who Died at Lagoon Was Loyal Friend

Debby Winsberg was the kind of friend who wrote and recorded a song for you when you were down. She loved to sing and play guitar but never posted on YouTube, because it wasn't about her, it was about sharing the song, a Belmont Heights friend said Saturday.

Winsberg was also an avid swimmer who did laps daily at McGaugh Elementary School's saltwater pool, said Sue Ahrend, a longtime friend.

"She would go over every morning at 7 a.m. That's where she was expected to be yesterday morning. Instead she went to the lagoon."

Ahrend, who taught tai chi with Winsberg through Long Beach Parks and Rec for 17 years, remained stunned by her friend's death, which she described as a suicide. Winsberg left a note, attached a weight to herself and jumped off the wood wharf of Colorado Lagoon on Friday morning, Ahrend said.

There had been a witness from across or down the street, and there is a fire station just around the corner, Ahrend noted, but they couldn't reach her in time. It was reported to Long Beach police at 8:35 a.m., about the time parents and students were walking and driving to nearby Rogers Middle and Lowell Elementary School, and commuters were heading off to work. Several readers notified Patch after driving by the lagoon.

Police and the L.A. Coroner's Office said the death of Winsberg, 51, was being investigated as a suicide.

That notion "is just mind-blowing," said Ahrend. "She did not share this last step with us, so we are left to try figuring it out." The death left friends broken-hearted, said Ahrend, who had to tell her Saturday tai chi students about Winsberg, who had substitute taught her class.

Winsberg, who lived in a Temple Avenue apartment in the Heights for several years, was not working, having taken a semester off from her Parks and Rec teaching, and had not been her typically light, loving, playful self the past two weeks. But Ahrend said she was no more despondent than others searching for work, "lived simply, she was healthy," and gave no indication she was in such despair as to take her own life.

Thus, friends were choosing Saturday to talk to each other and remember and share all that was sunny and caring about ''the real Debby," said Ahrend, who lives two blocks from the lagoon.

Winsberg, she said, was a talented guitarist, whose songs were about love, and often lighthearted. She invited musican friends to jam with her.

"One of her friends once said, 'There are never any songs written with my name in them,' " Ahrend said with amusement. "So Debby wrote her a song called 'Doris.' "

Winsberg had worked as an actress, a voice-over artist, and other freelance jobs. She was a conscientious friend who never failed to throw a "great, always really fun party at a restaurant" to honor the decade-turning birthdays, Ahrend said; they'd always be a surprise to delight and honor the friend.

So when Winsberg turned 50 last year, they returned the favor, throwing a big surprise party with more than 30 guests at May's Thai Kitchen, where she was a regular diner.

"She's a musician, she sings, she plays guitar, she writes music, she acted, she's so fun and playful.  She was vibrant, and cherished her friends. You felt her love. That's the Debby she always was, and that's the Debby we're going to remember."

Winsberg is survived by two brothers and a sister who live in the Bay area, where she will be buried. A private remembrance among fellow practitioners of tai chi will be held soon as well.