Pamela was born on July 27, 1946, in Lakewood, Ohio, to Doris Mae (nee Long) and Reginald Percival Merridew. She attended Gilles-Sweet Elementary School and Fairview High School in Fairview Park, Ohio, and Grosse Pointe High School in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. At Northwood University in Midland, Michigan, she met and married her future ex-husband Robert F. Baker, and they went on to have a daughter, Anne Christine. Pamela devoted her life to raising her daughter as a single parent and making sure she had the best life possible.
Although Pamela never finished college, she went on to become a leader in the association world, earning a Certified Association Executive (CAE) certification from the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), and working her way up to becoming the Executive Director of the National Eye Research Foundation (NERF) in Northbrook, Illinois, as well as the Director of Accreditation for the American Association for the Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities (AAAASF) in Gurnee, Illinois. Keeping patients safe was one of the things she was most passionate about, and her involvement in developing and enforcing national surgical standards was one of her proudest accomplishments. She made friends wherever she went; none more so than during her stint as Director of Meetings and Information for the North American Wholesale Lumber Association (NAWLA), then in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, where she was blessed to work with people who would become lifelong friends.
While Pamela’s clear intellect fueled an impressive business career, she was just as passionate about creating amazingly beautiful needlepoint artwork through her own business, Thistle Stop. Although this venture lasted only a few years, you can still find her patterns and kits for sale on internet marketplace sites. Her entire family will always treasure her one-of-a-kind designs and creations.
Family was everything to Pamela. She was a beloved mother, daughter, sister, cousin, and aunt to a small but tight knit family. She is survived by her sister Carole (George) Van Lieu of Cincinnati, Ohio, cousin Arthur “Chip” (Amy) Zimmerman of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, nephews Scott (Kara) Van Lieu of Aurora, Illinois, and David Van Lieu of Indianapolis, Indiana, as well as many other cousins scattered throughout the country. But most important to Pamela is that she is survived by her profoundly loved daughter, Anne, who will try to carry on with the strength she inherited from her amazing mother and the support of her loving family.
A Celebration of Life for Pamela will be held later in the year. In lieu of flowers, Pamela’s family requests that donations be made to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation at t2t.org
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