- Date Of Birth: May 12, 1951
- Date Of Death: March 12, 2012
- State: Idaho
Pam Parker, wife, mother, grandmother, artist, inspiration and champion for the Boise Community died on Monday, March 12, 2012 at her home in Boise, Idaho.
Pam’s career started in 1972 as the bookkeeper for the Boise YMCA’s Executive Director and by the time she retired from the Y in 2003, she had directed a $13.5 million Capital Campaign used to build the National award winning West Family YMCA & Boise City Aquatic Center, acted as their Executive Director and as their Philanthropy and Communications Officer. She moved on to work with the Nature Conservancy as the Director of Philanthropy and finally to the Bogus Basin Mountain and Recreation Area as their Vice President of Development. With only a High School diploma, she developed this impressive career by working hard, seeing a need, and filling it – she achieved any goal set before her. The Idaho Business Review interviewed Pam and quoted her as saying, “I always felt like if somebody had expectations of me, then I must be able to do it – they wouldn’t ask me to do something I couldn’t do.” She continued by adding, “I’m very motivated to be creative and get the job done because I really care about it and have cared for all the people I have worked for and with.”
Of all her achievements, Pam was most proud of her marriage of 42 years, her daughters, the home she built and the marathon she ran at age 50. Of all of her passions, cooking an elegant meal for her friends and family and being in the outdoors were the things she loved the most. Pam enjoyed backpacking, running in the foothills, sailing the San Juan’s and serving as co-pilot while flying in the Idaho backcountry with her husband.
She made every day count.
Pam had cancer and lived the last six years with incredible courage and grace. Her strength and positive outlook were always an inspiration to others.
She is loved and will be terribly missed.
Pam is survived by her husband, Bruce Parker; daughters, Kelli Parker and Abbie Parker and, their husbands Olivier Chatel and Steve Korol; her granddaughter, Elsinore Korol; sister-in-law, Le Kelleher; her parents, Marvin and JoAnn Turner; as well as her siblings, Joe Turner, Ival Turner, Pat Petrie, and all of their children and grandchildren.
