A Life Lived: Pam Wilson is now ‘Alive for Evermore’

Published 11:48 am Tuesday, May 26, 2020

The outpouring of online tributes to Pamela Wilson is a reminder that each of us builds a legacy every day. We leave our mark on the world. It may be the way we love our family, care for our friends, treat strangers, live our faith, etc. Whatever, someone will remember something about us, good or bad.

Pam Wilson, who passed from this life May 11, left a big foot print. Friends remember her smile, her kind words, her friendship, her compassion and love, her sweet spirit, her Sunday School lessons, her soft touch and praying spirit. And, the list goes on and on.

Pam was the wife of Dennis Wilson, Pastor of Lynn Valley Baptist Church. For most of her adult life, she had been a pastor’s wife, juggling that role with being a mother of three sons, grandmother to three, and her job as a court transcriptionist. She had worked for the Tennessee Criminal Court System for 30 years, retiring in 2018.

As a court transcriptionist she had worked for Judges Arden Hill, Lynn Brown, Robert Culp, Stacy Street and Lisa Rice, and in earlier years worked cases under Juvenile Judge Jesse Ray. One tribute to Pam noted the “professional manner” in which Pam conducted herself in court.

To her husband, Dennis, Pam’s most outstanding attribute was her “love for the Lord. She had a tremendous love for the Lord and in her final days rejoiced in going home to be with the Lord.”

“She made me promise that on her tombstone I would not put the date of her death, but instead the words, ‘Alive For Evermore.’ That described Pam,” Dennis shared.

This June the couple would have been married 47 years, and his pastorates had taken them into many homes and a myriad of situations. “She handled each with grace and prayer,” Dennis shared.

He noted that Pam spent hours studying the Word and praying. “Some days when court was trying, she came home and after the evening meal, she spent time praying for those who were on trial, the jury and judge. She loved people, even the unloveable.”

Pam had a large Sunday School class at Lynn Valley Baptist. Almost every Sunday she had 40 or 50 ladies who attended regularly. “She loved her class and gave a lot to it,” Dennis said. It paid off. In one tribute to her, a former student wrote: “I still have a pebble that she gave me in Sunday School class with the  lesson to always be a ripple; that what we do is one small mark, but will go out farther than we’ll ever know. Just like the pebble hitting water causes a ripple for a long way. She taught beautiful lessons in Sunday School.”

Another wrote: “She taught so many life lessons in Sunday School.”

A personal  tribute from a church friend noted: “I will forever remember the touch of her hand during prayer — the warm comfortable feeling and the spirit that lived within her…the comforting hugs during tears of sadness…”

Another simply wrote: “She was an inspiration, a friend, and Christian mentor.”

A neighbor told Dennis he would miss seeing Pam on her front porch on warm mornings reading her Bible and praying.

Pam’s husband described her as his “biggest asset.”

“She never ever did anything to hurt me. I could count on her being at my side in both the best and worst of times. She was a rock, and her faith was strong. I feel blessed to have had her at my side all these years and to be the mother of my children. Just two or three nights before her passing, the boys and their families were in the room with her, and were laughing and having a good time. She, too, was smiling because they were smiling,” said Dennis.

He described Pam as a “Proverbs woman,” noting her likeness to the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31. “She worked hard to become a woman who honored God. She loved others, was good to others, and prayed for others. She was a good wife and mother,” Dennis said.

He noted that the lady who succeeded her as  court transcriptionist shared, “If I am half the person Pam was, I will be blessed.”

Pam often accompanied Dennis when he visited the sick or in the homes of church members. “She loved her church, whether it was in Mountain City or Elizabethton. She made life-long friends in each of the churches we pastored,” he said.

Next to her teaching, she enjoyed getting the Women’s Conference at church together each year. She had already chosen a theme for this year’s conference, “Flamingled.” The conference usually held in June, will be held later this summer due to the coronavirus.

“She had already bought decorations and props for the conference and had them stored in the garage. When I asked her what she was doing, her reply was: ‘Trying to spend my stimulus check’ and of course, there was a Pam smile lurking behind her reply,” Dennis shared. It’s only one of many, many good memories he has of the woman who was his staunchest supporter the past 47 years.

Pam Wilson lived the way she wanted to be remembered: She loved the Lord and others, and is now Alive for Evermore.