Pamela Jeanne Botts

Pamela Jeanne Botts (née Schroeder) was born June 17, 1944 in Davenport, Iowa. The first daughter of Jeanette and Robert Schroeder, she grew up for several years in Iowa before the family moved to Boulder, Colorado. Pam was always very close with her sisters, Anne and Mary. Pam attended high school in Boulder and received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Colorado.

In 1961, Pam’s life changed when she met a visiting Air Force Academy cadet in Boulder. They kindled a relationship that would last for the next 62 years. Pam married Mason Botts in the summer of 1966 in Boulder, Colorado. They began an adventure that took them from Del Rio, Texas to the Far East (where their sons Justin and Kevin were born), Hawaii, Alabama, and eventually to the Washington DC area, where they settled in 1980 and raised their two children.

Pam was a beautiful, gentle soul. She was a mother to her sons in the same way. With a touch that was both kind and firm, and a love that was transcendent and deeply understood, she approached people universally with patience and understanding. She had a keen ability to communicate in a clear and quiet way. Raising kids abroad without the support of extended family, she created a comforting, supportive, loving home.

During her early years with Mason, Pam loved waterskiing and driving their Corvette from Del Rio to Austin, Texas. She later developed a love of scrapbooking and recorded many memories of the travel she and Mason did in their later years.

Pam’s career in education spanned nearly 40 years, with a break in the 1970s and early 1980s to raise her children. Pam worked first as a teacher in Del Rio, Texas and later as a school counselor in Fairfax County, Virginia.

Pam’s battle with Alzheimer’s disease was one she fought with the same courage and dignity she displayed throughout her entire life. She passed away peacefully on November 6, 2023, in her home in Springfield, Virginia. She is survived by her husband, Mason, her sons, Justin (Abby) and Kevin (Rachel), her four grandchildren, Carson, Caroline, Anna, and Mason, her sisters Anne (Christy) and Mary (Mike), and her nieces and nephews, Ted (Nikki), Sarah, Melissa (Austin), and Mark (Laura).

A memorial service will be held at Pohick Church in Lorton, Virginia on Saturday, December 2 at 10:00am. A celebration of life will follow the service. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association (www.alz.org).