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Update to an earlier post -
Sue Giallombardo Walker verified information taking from a recent obituary in Tennessee.
Kitten Abraham, 48, passed away August 3, 2015 in Memphis, TN. She was preceded in death by her parents, Major Richard Palmer, USMC (Ret) and Pamela Eldridge Palmer." She is survived by her sister, Kim Palmer- Dain of Columbiana, OH.
I found Kim on Facebook and was able to talk to her tonight - Her dad Kit passed away from cancer in 2000 at their home in Florida. He only did treatment long enough to be able to go to Sandals where he and Pam would go several times a year and they had planned to renew their wedding vows for their 36th anniversary. They were able to do that, came home and he passed a few days later. Pam later relocated to Ohio to be near daughter Kim and her 3 sons. Sadly, she passed away in 2011. Kim said that her mom really died of a broken heart, she missed Kit so much. She had not been ill, but she never recovered from his death.
All of Pam's family pictures, her NT memorabilia from the musicals, photos, etc were lost in a storage facility. She said that while her mom never performed on stage again, music was always a part of her life and she sang all the time at home, to her children and grandchildren.
Kim has no recordings or photos of her mom's activities at NT, not even the yearbooks, so I am planning to scan all the yearbook pictures, have a CD made of my NT records from the musicals and make copies of all the KIsmet photos that I've kept all these years..
If you have any memories of Pam that you want to share with Kim -please post on Pam's In Memory page.
I'm giving Kim access to see all the postings. If you'd like her email, just let me know. Kim lost her middle son in 2012. He was 16. I wanted her to know how much we all loved her mom and regret that we couldn't have heard her wonderful voice just once more.
love you all - SueG
Kitten Abraham, 48, of Bartlett passed away on August 3, 2015 at her home. She is survived by Kenneth Abraham; her beloved son, Joshua Abraham, both of Bartlett; and a sister, Kimberly Palmer-Dain of Ohio. She was preceded in death by her parents, Major Richard Palmer, USMC Ret. and Pamela Eldridge Palmer. Private family services will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial gifts be made to either the Dorothy Day House of Hospitality, P.O. Box 40269 Memphis, TN 38174-0269 or any Memphis Battered Women’s Shelter. - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/commercialappeal/obituary.aspx?pid=175451891#sthash.tXqIVawG.dpuf
Kitten Abraham, 48, of Bartlett passed away on August 3, 2015 at her home. She is survived by Kenneth Abraham; her beloved son, Joshua Abraham, both of Bartlett; and a sister, Kimberly Palmer-Dain of Ohio. She was preceded in death by her parents, Major Richard Palmer, USMC Ret. and Pamela Eldridge Palmer. Private family services will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial gifts be made to either the Dorothy Day House of Hospitality, P.O. Box 40269 Memphis, TN 38174-0269 or any Memphis Battered Women’s Shelter. - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/commercialappeal/obituary.aspx?pid=175451891#sthash.tXqIVawG.dpuf
Abraham, 48, of Bartlett passed away on August 3, 2015 at her home. She is survived by Kenneth Abraham; her beloved son, Joshua Abraham, both of Bartlett; and a sister, Kimberly Palmer-Dain of Ohio. She was preceded in death by her parents, Major Richard Palmer, USMC Ret. and Pamela Eldridge Palmer. Private family services will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial gifts be made to either the Dorothy Day House of Hospitality, P.O. Box 40269 Memphis, TN 38174-0269 or any Memphis Battered Women’s Shelter. - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/commercialappeal/obituary.aspx?pid=175451891#sthash.tXqIVawG.dpuf
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Karen Dieterich (Thomas)
Thanks, Sue.
Nancy Hoffmann
She was in my German class(es): the only other girl, most years. I did not know her well, but she was fun and gracious (she got a lot of teasing from some of the boys). She was too young and too talented to die so soon!
Thanks, Sue, for letting us know.
Marcia Loose (Now: Taylor Gimbel)
I didn't know Pam well, but lived next door to Kit & his family. The Palmers were all special. Thanks, Taylor Gimbel (Marcia Loose)
Elizabeth (Betsy) Bogart (Grein)
Sue, I"m so glad you could find Pam's daughter. What a wonderful thing you're going to do for her. Pam was a major force in our class. It seems like her later life was so sad. I know she rests in peace.
Betsy Bogart Grein
Fred James
Aloha Sue G.,
I note that the list of our peers on the Memoriam Page of NT '63 is growing longer and longer. I read all the names ten minutes ago and found that most of them were merely memories of a name only, not a face or association. But that is the inevetable result of haviing a class of 992 people in it. Then I read your update of Pam Eldridge. By the time I finished I was crying. Your words about her were so loving and true. Pam was not only a truly beautiful girl but she had a clear, soprano voice that rang out over theauditorium. A friend of mine who went to Loyola and did not know her perosnally told me that he really liked Kismet, the operatta we did in our last year atr NT. He said, "There were some good singers in your class but that one, the one who sang "Strangers in Paradise," she was amazing! All I can remember were those gorgeous blue eyes, the gold hair, the lighting arouond her and that perfect voice! She made me shiver!" I had the luck to know her all four years at NT. She was from a wealthy family who lived in a large home in Kenilworth or WIlmette. She could have been a snob. But she was the opposite. She treated me with a full measure of decency and respect. She was warm and intelligent. And her voice was simply wonderful. I remember a conversation I had with her senior year in about February of 1963. We were walking along betrween classes. I asked her if she had picked a college for next Fall. She said no, she planned on marrying a Marine pilot. I asked her, "Why not go to college, continue to sing and marry the dude?" She answered in a manner that is precisely like my sister would have done in those years. "Whether he goes, I follow." I was stunned that a girl of her brains, beauty and abililties would maintain such a pre-feminine point of view. I was invited and went to her marriage and met Kit. He was right out of Top Gun and perhaps more handsome than Tom Cruise. He treated me as an equal. She had apparently made a good choice of men to marry. After graduation I never saw her again although I tried desperately to find her (Unsuccesfully as it turned out.) to ask her to sing with the reconstituted "Very" Senior Boys Ensemble we put together for one of the NT reunions. I am happy to know she had love and music in her later life. Pam Eldridge was one of those girls most of us held way up on a high pedestal. I'm glad I still can. Fred James, NT'63, her life-long fan.
Sheilah Rae Bernstein (Gross)
Pam and I were wonderful friends in high school, totally oil and water, and completely bonded through our music and love of theater. Pam attended the University of Michigan with me, but unfortunately left either during or shortly after our freshman year, but we shared the same voice teacher there, and we both pledged Delta Delta Delta sorority. I was completely saddened when she decided not to return to the U of M, but I also understood her love for Kit, and why she felt she had to get married right then to him! They had an amazing relationship, and she adored him completely. He worshipped her and that was incredible to see.
The last time I saw Pam (and Kit) was when she came to see a musical I had written, 'Funny, You Don't Look Like A Grandmother' which was being performed in Palm Beach FL. She had driven down with her husband, and I think one of her daughters and son in law came as well. We had a lovely pre-show dinner together, and then they came to the Royal Poinciana Playhouse to see the show. I sat between her and Kit. She was dolled up to the nines, and looked amazing---this was around 1995. The shocking thing was that during the show, this tough Viet Nam Warrior and beautiful former leading lady sat and wept through the thing...don't get me wrong. The show had some touching moments, but their emotional reaction was undeniable and genuine.
I wasn't in touch with Pam as much as I'd wanted to be in recent years...we all get centered in our own busy lives and I didn't reach out as much as I should have. I'd heard she'd moved to be near a daughter, and was so sorry for the losses in her own life/husband, daughter.
Pam was goodness personified. I don't think she had a jealous or mean bone in her body. The thought of her toughing it out in show business was abhorent, and I knew she ended up exactly where she belonged. Clearly she was well loved, and will be missed by anyone whose life she crossed.