Debbie Sit was barely out of her teens when friends and family began to notice her quiet leadership style. She was exceptionally bright, and even more gracious. All were drawn to her calming disposition.
From sorority president to vice president of her family's Minneapolis investment firm, Sit led by happy example.
"She was always the person people secretly aspired to be," said longtime friend Annette Meeks, who met Sit during her time in the University of Minnesota's Alpha Omicron Pi sorority. "Deb was not the loudest or the most boisterous, but when she spoke, everyone paid attention because it meant something."
Sit had many business and philanthropic accomplishments over her career, including being named in the "40 Under 40" list of the top 40 business achievers in 1995 by the Twin Cities Business Journal, for her work at Sit Investment Associates.
Sit died of cancer on June 29. She was 54.
At the U, Sit developed a network of friends she kept up with for more than 30 years after graduation. After receiving her MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Sit helped foster a book club, Christmas cookie exchange and other regular ways for the women to stay in touch. "She was the one that held us all together and made things happen," said Leslie Smith, a sorority sister.
Loved ones remember her insatiable curiosity about the world. She loved to travel and experienced new cultures with her husband, Peter Berge. Among the places they visited were Paris and Shanghai, and Peru would have been their next trip, he said.
But she most treasured her home in St. Paul. "She put so much of herself into it," Berge said. "I think that was the place she was the happiest."
