Pamela B. Joliet Garland
Pamela gave up her battle against cancer on August 5th, 2020, in Santa Barbara, California only hours after her 2nd granddaughter, Vera was born. Pamela was brave, gracious, caring and believing, and left us too soon.
Born 9/30/50 in Lubbock, Texas. Her pops left not long after, and Pamela traveled west with her mom and uncles on Route 66 to find some good oranges and ultimately Santa Barbara. They settled on the Riviera first where Pamela first met Jesus, holding her little birdy, that had recently died. From there, she moved to Calle Poniente, on the west side where she spent a large part of her life. Also, Living next door to the State Theater (the old Unity Shop) she would listen to movies through her window at night.
Her mom, Wynne Tuffnell, remarried (John Rowbottom) and Pam soon had two brothers, Steve and Mike, whom she loved. She attended local schools including Harvey Haver’s Free school for awhile. Later, she enrolled in Butte College in Chico, where she studied art and created fine etches, and became a fine artist.
Back home in Santa Barbara she worked at the “Tea House” restaurant, around the same time as her future husband, Jim Garland, though they weren’t destined to join up at that moment. Her travels took her to Bellingham, WA as well as New York City for awhile, until settling back down with her new daughter Fiona in Santa Barbara. Fiona’s father Mark Dudley stayed behind in Monterey, and Pam rejoined her mom Wynne. Fiona started school at Waldorf School where they both became very involved. About that time, 1998, she met and married Jim and together they raised Fiona and Jim’s son, Kilian. Many wonderful times were spent at the beach and at surfing contests.
Her favorite past times were sewing, yoga, art, and time spent with Spunky and Pancakes her favorites doggies, on long walks. She especially liked the dance floor at the great Blues Society concerts. More recently she enjoyed traveling to Costa Rica, Mexico, Cape Cod, Canada, Florida and special road trips through the heartland and the Mississippi Delta.
The later years were spent with taking care of her mom and attending many Al- Anon meetings. She offered her whole life as a gift to others, and she will be sorely missed by those left behind, discovering her treasures.
Pamela is survived by her loving husband Jim, daughter, Fiona, and granddaughters: Rainy Mae, and Vera. She is also survived by Jim’s son Kilian, and Jim’s extended family, her brother, Stephen Rowbottam, cousins John Rowbottam and his extended family, Aunt Eileen and Jim Morton, and nephews, John and Jason Bauman and Joshua Rowbottam.