Thursday 11-03-2021 - 11:52

Reverend Pamela Turnbull Lucas passed peacefully Monday 1st February in Toronto, Canada from a brief illness (cancer).  Pamela was a devoted wife to Jane, much loved sister and Auntie. 

Pamela loved life and travelling and never stopped planning for her next trip, even as late as December 202, she was planning when she could come back to the UK after the COVID restrictions were lifted.  She was an avid motorcycle rider, most recently her Harley Davidson Heritage Softail Classic.  She thoroughly enjoyed riding her bike – no destination required (the ride was the destination!) and always came home from a ride with the biggest smile on her face!  Pamela was a member of the CAV (Canadian Army Veterans Morotcyle Unit) with a handle of Piper (because she played the bagpipes) for a few years, and then joined the Motor Maids in 2014. She loved riding with this group of women and was hoping to be able to go to Convention this year.

Another of Pamela’s passions was delving into the Family Tree – long before it became a social phenomenon.  She has been able to trace the family back 100’s of years and has connected with distant relatives both in her hometown of Gateshead as well as across the globe.  She also took great delight in helping others to trace their roots.
Pamela was an academic through and through, with three master’s degrees (in Social Work and Theology).  She studied at Oxford (Westminster College), Glasgow, Edinburgh and Johannesburg SA, and after emigrating to Canada, continued her studies, doing courses at Ryerson and Lakehead Universities and Fleming College in Canada, and with the Institute of Counselling in the UK, always striving to stay current within her profession.

Pamela worked as a Social Worker in the UK after leaving NUS, before she trained for ministry with the Theological Institute of the Scottish Episcopal Church in 1998.  She was ordained deacon (2000) and priest (2001) in Durham Cathedral. When Pamela finished her curacy in the Diocese, she went to test her vocation with a religious community in London (2004-2006). After that, she worked for some years as a hospital chaplain in Basingstoke, and then emigrated to Canada (2009) where she has served as a full-time Hospital Chaplain and Psychotherapist at St. Michael's Hospital. Pamela served as a volunteer chaplain at Mount Sinai in 2009 as well as Rouge Valley, and has served as an Honorary Assistant at St. Monica, St. Peter, Carlton Street, St. Leonard, St. Cyprian, and most recently at St. Augustine of Canterbury Anglican churches in Toronto.
Pamela felt a calling to be a Hospital Chaplain when she was still in school and followed that vocation throughout her life.  As social worker, priest, nun and chaplain/psychotherapist, she has made a difference, for good, in the lives of countless people.  Her warmth, compassion, hunger for social justice, along with her bright smile and infectious laugh will be remembered by everyone.

Pamela was cremated in Toronto, and when travel is once again permitted, will be brought home to her beloved Gateshead to be buried with her parents

 

Memories of Pamela by Dermot Kehoe

From the moment Pamela first turned up at NUS’s Holloway Road headquarters it was clear that she did not suffer fools gladly. Fiercely independent in both her personality and her politics and a very proud lesbian, Pamela had won a hard-fought election for the, still new and controversial, role of Vice President Further Education Union Development.

Pamela was one of the more experienced members of the new National Executive Committee, having been an area convenor before arriving, so she was familiar with the byzantine ways of NUS HQ. 

The first time I got to know Pamela was at the new President Lorna Fitzsimons’ team building weekend up a bleak mountain in windswept Abergavenny. When she offered to give me a lift from London, I was delighted for the company. However, I spent the next several hours clutching the arm rests as Pamela wound her way through the Welsh valleys at some considerable pace. She always seemed to me most as home behind a steering wheel (or motorbike) on the open road.

Pamela was open, generous, and fun to be around. She made friends easily across the highly politicised factions of 1990s student politics. Outside of work, Tracey Neal, the National Treasurer, Pamela and I went on holiday to Tenerife in the summer of 1992. After a few days of sand, sea, sun and sangria we rapidly ran out of money, until Pamela came up with a plan. We toured the bars in the evening taking it in turns to pretend to have a birthday in the hope of charming free drinks out of the bar tenders. Whilst we were rarely successful, we had great fun trying.

Even then Pamela was very open about her ambition to become a priest. This was a highly unusual career path for a student leader, activist and lesbian, especially as at the time the Church of England wouldn’t even ordain women. But Pamela never shied away from a challenge and never followed the pack.

People have in recent days been remembering Pamela’s warmth, generosity and compassion, and all that is true. But what I remember most clearly about the youthful Pamela Lucas was that she always liked to be at the centre of the action, she was adventurous, even mischievous and whenever you caught her gaze, she’d have a gleam in her eye and a smile on her face.