Obituary of Pamela Thornton Barker, 84
Pamela Thornton Barker.
Pamela Thornton Barker
1940 ~ 2025
Paso Robles, CA
– Pam, Pammie, Nana, GG closed her eyes for the last time on February 18, 2025, at the home of her daughter in Paso Robles, CA. “That redhead” will leave a void in our hearts. Born June 8, 1940, to Harwood Dean Thornton and Better Lee Dawe in Salt Lake City, she was raised there and attended the new Olympus High Schoo,l graduating in 1958. That same year she was engaged to Doug Barker a fellow employee at Dan’s Grocery store who worked produce and she in the bakery.
They married September 18 and continued to live in SLC as Doug’s career in produce went forward with Sunkist Growers. Pam always worked as a secretary as her typing and shorthand skills were encouraged by her father who believed women should not attend college. Doug and Pam had their first and only child in November, 1959 and a time she developed a very special relationship with her mother in law Mary.
Sunkist Growers transferred the family to Southern California in the early 1960s, which was an eye-opening experience for Pam. This naive girl had to drive California freeways and pronounce street names as well as proper names in Spanish. Working for the school superintendent, she had a particularly hard time pronouncing “Jesus.” She learned to love avocados, tacos, and all things vegetable, much to the chagrin of Doug.
Many friendships were made, and many sacrifices. Doug’s Sunkist job relocated them back to SLC in 1969, and Pam found work easily as an executive secretary. These were years of reconnecting with her sister Georgia, camping, changing hair color frequently, and playing board games with spouses that ended up in arguments. There were always trips in the non-air-conditioned VW to the corner burger joint for fries with fry sauce.
Again, Doug was transferred to the headquarters of Sunkist Growers in Sherman Oaks, CA. They settled in Westlake Village/Agoura in 1972 and she referred to these years as magical. She made lifelong friends, shopped the cosmetic counter at Saks Fifth Avenue after work, and taught her daughter the art of testing and smelling without buying. Much to the dismay of her teen daughter, she wore large-brimmed hats to the beach and was involved in all things teen, all the while encouraging her daughter to attend college. This did happen and Pam continued working to pay the tuition.
Doug changed companies from Sunkist to Sunworld, where he began traveling worldwide, which meant a relocation to Indio, CA. Pam could not tolerate the heat, so purchased a condo back in SLC. Eventually, a divorce occurred. Pam went to work for the Church Offices in the computer division and walked across the street to ZCMI for lunch and a Coke. She then took a job with a new law office Snell and Wilmer with just two attorneys. She stayed with them for over 15 years and watched the firm grow. Pam remained single until 2014 when she and Doug remarried at the Justice of the Peace in SLC.
Pam got her son when Brooke married Brent Meek. She became a Nana in 1982 to Jared, then in 1985 to Bronwyn, and fell in love with the role, taking them to Nordstrom, McDonald’s, and Cummings candy. She traveled to Italy with a dear friend from Westlake Village days but never made it to Ireland. A grandson-in-law came into her life Jake Wood who delighted in teasing her to see her giggle. She became a GG (great-grandmother) to Dillan, Penny, and Greer.
Most of Pam’s family is on the other side, including her sister Georgia and brother Charles. Left behind is little sister Heidi, sister-in-law Carolyn, brother-in-law Bill Barker, and husband Jim Anderson, and many wonderful nieces and nephews that brought her great joy. Pammie will be interred next to Doug at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park this summer, where bagpipes will be played.
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