In Memoriam: Pamela Sands

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – Middlebury mourns the loss of Pamela Sands, a longtime staff member who died on Tuesday, February 13, 2018. Sands was hired by the College in December of 1983 as a temporary postal clerk. She was promoted to full-time postal clerk in 1988 and has worked in that role ever since. Sands was inducted into the College’s 25-Year Club in 2010.

Sands was born March 27, 1963, in Germany, the daughter of Thomas Francis Sands Sr. and Angela Bonita (Vieland) Sands. She is survived by her sisters Patty Murray, lead mail service technician at the College and her husband Mark of Middlebury; Johanna Freihofer and husband Ed of Satellite Beach, Fla.; her significant other Michael Ryan; her aunt Barbara Kresse of New Hampshire; her uncle Dick Sands of Nova Scotia, Canada; her nieces Jennifer Murray and Heidi Freihofer; and numerous cousins. Sands was predeceased by her parents and by her son Christopher Ryan in 1982.

“Pam was a dedicated employee” said David LaRose, former Mail Center Supervisor. “During extremely stressful days, and there were plenty, she was the calm.” Larose said that Sands “taught him the job” of mail clerk when he was hired as the supervisor and that she was a dedicated and reliable employee throughout their 27 years of working together.

“Pam was a quiet person who developed strong relationships with the students who worked for us,” said Jacki Galenkamp, mail center supervisor. “When we learned of her passing, Nicole [Duquette] and I gathered with our student workers to share stories, memories, funny moments and tears. We are family. She was family.”

A celebration of Sands’s life will be held on Monday, Feb. 19, at the Middlebury American Legion from 4-7 p.m. Memorial contributions may be made to Homeward Bound, Addison County’s Humane Society at 236 Boardman Street, Middlebury, VT 05753.