The angels are rejoicing, as Pamela Joy Garner Bartelle of Kansas City, Missouri, passed away peacefully May 7th, 2019 at the St. Luke’s Hospice House in Kansas City, surrounded by her family. Pam was born April 27, 1961 in Detroit, Michigan, the daughter of the late Bill Garner and Betty Garner. Her early childhood was spent in downtown Detroit, Michigan, moving in 1969 to Orchard Farm, Missouri, and later to Fenton, Missouri until she graduated from high school.
She was a candy striper volunteer at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis. She attended Central College in McPherson, Kansas, where she met her sweetheart, Jeffrey Bartelle, whom she later married. They enjoyed more than thirty years together.
Pam and Jeff had two daughters, Rachael Goodman (Matt), and Savannah Bartelle, and her four “grand darlings,” Morina and Elliott, daughters of Rachael and Matt, and Maree and Olivia, daughters of Savannah, were a constant delight. Pam was raised in the Christian & Missionary Alliance Church, and her faith sustained her throughout her life – a faith she passed along to her children and grandchildren. Pam is also survived by her mother, Betty Ruth Garner, her sister, Debra Garner (Reid Hamilton), her brother, Stephen Garner (Karen), and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Pam loved her granddaughters, her dogs, and gardening. She was never happier than when she was knee deep in dirt, cultivating a wide variety of vegetables. She could often be found in her garden with at least one granddaughter alongside her, and a dog nearby.
She loved experimenting in the kitchen, knew the best hole-in-the-wall ethnic eateries, and was always up to try a new recipe or dish. An avid reader, Pam loved cooking and gardening magazines, and an occasional novel for good measure. Every year she lived for the arrival of the Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog, and spent the winter dreaming of what she would be planting when spring arrived.
Pam worked at Ernst & Young’s Kansas City office, UMB Bank, and Children’s Mercy Hospital in the Office of Research Integrity, and has left many friends from each place she worked. Pam was unusually adept at learning computer programs, working her way through instruction manuals so she would be the first in her department to know the programs. She started out as a mailroom clerk, and steadily worked her way up with each job change until she became the Office Manager for the Office of Research Integrity at Children’s Mercy Hospital.
Pam was always up for a challenge, learning public speaking in Toastmasters International, a skill that served her well as a leader in the International Association of Administrative Professionals in Kansas City. In 2011, Pam successfully fought breast cancer, continuing to work and live life through a year of chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation. She was quick to offer words of encouragement, inspiring many other cancer patients and medical staff.
Pam played and worked and lived and loved – bringing us all joy for eight more years. She will be remembered and forever missed by her family and many friends, until in heaven we are joyfully reunited. In lieu of flowers, donations in Pam’s name can be made to the Journey of Courage and Hope Retreat Fund of the St. Luke’s Koontz Center for Advanced Breast Cancer.
The link for online donations is in the upper right hand of the page. Simply click on the link: www. saintlukesgiving.org, and then clink the Tribute Gift link.
Then click the drop down menu for Giving Options, click on TYPE PROGRAM OF CHOICE, and type in Koontz Retreat. There will also be a basket marked “Donations for Koontz Retreat” on the back table. A Celebration of Pam’s Life will be held Sunday, May 19th, 2019, at A Secret Garden, 11014 East Winner Road, Independence, Missouri, at 5:00 pm.
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