Celebrant Pam Vetter


	Celebrating Life Everyone Has A Story...

Pam White was born to her parents, Bob and Joan, in Long Beach on April 4th, 1959. Her mother was a schoolteacher and coach, while her father was a restaurateur and businessman. Pam was raised with her brother, Mez, and they both had a wonderful childhood. Their parents were very supportive and encouraging as they were growing up. There are some amazing family pictures of them enjoying life. Her parents entertained a lot, gave them a love of life, appreciation of gourmet food, and a love for the Pittsburgh sports teams, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

When Pam was a young girl, they'd visit her grandparents' farm in Pennsylvania where Pam sold corn in a stand in front of the family farm so she had money to attend the Pittsburgh Pirates games. Pam was an avid softball player who played for many years and into an adult league. She graduated from Los Alamitos High School and took secretarial training. After high school, she went to work.

Pam was overjoyed with the births of her wonderful sons -- James and Robert. She was an incredible mother who was devoted to her children. Pam was tough but loving with the kids. She emphasized their education. She wanted them to speak English properly, live right, and have good manners. She bent over backwards for her kids and she was proud of both of the boys. It was only natural that both James and Bobby inherited their mother's love and talent for sports, baseball, and love for the Pittsburgh sports teams. Pam was such an incredible, caring mother that other kids in the neighborhood also called her mom.

In 1982, Pam met her future husband at The Irisher in Seal Beach where he worked as a bartender. His name was Greg Witherell. Pam was working at the Seafood Grille at the time and she and her girlfriends used to come into the bar. For Greg and Pam, one kiss on a sidewalk in front of Belmont Station sealed the deal. Pam was a single mom with two sons and Greg was a single dad with two daughters. They were a lot like The Brady Bunch as Pam accepted Greg's children as her own and Greg accepted Pam's children as his own. The couple dated for a while and then in 1989, Greg got down on one knee in front of The Irisher and proposed. When he popped the question, Pam said, "Yes!" The couple went to Las Vegas where they bought a package deal at a wedding chapel to be married. The limo driver picked them up at their hotel with a fully stocked limo and drove them to the courthouse to fill out the paperwork. When there was a long line, the limo driver walked Pam and Greg to the front of the line to file their paperwork. After Pam and Greg were married in the wedding chapel, the limo driver drove them around town and then back to the hotel. On their wedding night, Greg found himself in the doghouse because Pam thought he spent too much time at the Craps Table on their honeymoon -- even though he was winning. It was something they would laugh about for years to come.

Professionally, Pam worked at Katella Deli in Los Alamitos. When the family lived in Idyllwild, Pam worked at Jan's Red Kettle, and Jan and she became very good friends. When the kids got sick, they moved to Yucaipa where she worked at a mortgage company. And her last job was at Moss Bros. Chrysler Dodge where she worked for six years. Wherever she went, Pam made lifelong friends.

There was a lot of traveling for the family. They went to the High Sierra's and Virginia Lake regularly. They rented a cabin the first time and they rented a tent only once… Pam hated the tent and that never happened again… it was quickly back to staying in a cabin. The family traveled regularly to Pittsburgh and stayed at the family home. They attended Pittsburgh Pirates games. In 2001, Greg took Pam to her first Pittsburgh Steelers game when the Steelers opened Heinz Field. When the announcer said, "These are your Pittsburgh Steelers," and the players came out of the tunnel, Bobby elbowed Greg and said, "Dad, mom's crying." She was so happy and it was an amazing day they would never forget.

With many favorites in life, Pam loved gardening. Her favorite flowers were red, white or yellow roses. She loved her rose bushes. She liked Dalias and her African Violets recently bloomed. Through the years, she grew vegetables such as tomatoes, squash, potatoes, and beans. One of her favorite meals was a tomato sandwich with bread, tomatoes and mayonnaise. She also grew avocados at her dad's house. They tried to grow avocados in Yucaipa, but it wasn't successful. Pam was always giving away vegetables, avocados, lemons and food to neighbors, her dental office, and her manicurist. She even made Christmas cookies and gave a plate of cookies to the neighbors every year.

Pam loved going out to eat and her favorite restaurants were seafood restaurants. She loved ordering crab legs at Kings in Long Beach or the Seafood Market in Los Alamitos.

Pam and Greg loved spending time with each other and they always said, "I love you." They saw most everything eye-to-eye. As a wife, Pam was awesome. As a couple, they traveled to Jamaica, Cozumel, Cancun, Tampa Bay Florida for the Pittsburgh Pirates Spring Training, Las Vegas, and New Orleans for the Mardi Gras.

Pam was big into holidays -- she especially loved Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's. For Thanksgiving, Greg always made the turkey and stuffing while Pam made the spinach casserole, pecan pie and desserts. For Christmas, Pam was a traditionalist who always wanted a real tree. Pam and Bobby would get a tree every year and cut down a tree from the side of a hill. Greg then had to work on the tree because it pointed to the left -- he never could understand why they chose trees that grew on a hill. The kids would learn new words when Greg was working on the tree every year. Santa Claus always gave presents and there were lots of gifts under the tree for the kids. For Christmas dinner, they'd have Prime Rib, mashed potatoes and vegetables. Pam and Greg always cooked together in the kitchen. It was fun. After the meal, they'd do the dishes together, then go and sit down and relax together. Their New Year's Menu was always something special out of Gourmet Magazine or Bon Appetit Magazine.

Throughout the year, Pam's mom would host gourmet parties and they'd create an entire menu from one of those magazines. They'd make everything including Celery Soup, Yorkshire Pudding, Timbales and more.

When it came to music, Pam loved listening to Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Disco music, Steely Dan, and Natalie Cole. Her favorite song was Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison -- because she was the brown-eyed girl in the song.

Pam had a great sense of humor and Bobby inherited his sense of humor from her. They were both funny. Pam liked listening to comedy and comedians from our era such as Bill Cosby, especially when he talked about the characters in his family.

For birthdays and anniversaries, Pam only wanted one thing: jewelry. One year, Greg bought her a Cuisinart for her birthday. Greg only did that once… She didn't like that gift because it was something that meant she had to do work. Instead, she wanted jewelry or a living plant, something that lasted. To celebrate anniversaries, the couple always went out to a nice dinner together.

Pam loved animals, especially dogs. They still have Frazier and Phoebe and they recently added an orange tabby cat named Kelly. She liked reading magazines and she did crossword puzzles every day. Greg bought her three newspapers a day so she could do crossword puzzles and Sudoku. When Pam was really sick in the hospital, she said all she wanted to do was to go home, sit on her patio and do a crossword puzzle.

The greatest losses in Pam's life were the losses of her son, Bobby, and her parents. She nursed all three of them when they were sick. She also cared for other people who were sick or dying. When Bobby was sick, she did everything she could for him. She moved to Seattle with Bobby for the better part of a year so he could get treatment. Greg had a job here so he couldn't leave but Bobby was in good hands with Pam. They spent Christmas together in Seattle as a family and she put up a tree in the corner, decorated, and bought food to make a real Christmas dinner. Pam was the one person who was in your corner no matter what was going on. If she was a friend, she was a friend for life… through the best and the worst. When she lived locally in Los Alamitos, she visited the cemetery at Forest Lawn Cypress every week. She'd come out and clean the spaces regularly.

Pam and Greg are known as Grandma and Papa to their grandchildren. They loved spending time with their grandchildren. Pam loved becoming a grandmother each time and she was happy the grandchildren were able to join them on a trip to the High Sierras. She spent time with all of her grandchildren, except the youngest, Megan who is their most recent addition. She really wanted to hang on to meet Megan.

When Pam became sick, she didn't want to go to the doctors. She said, "The doctors are going to make me quit smoking, quit drinking and go to church." She didn't want to do any of that. Since January of this year, Pam has been in and out of the hospital. When she lost her mobility, she spent three months in the hospital. She was frustrated but positive. The doctors said she was tougher than she looked and she went through more than most people ever go through. Through it all, Greg became her caretaker. She had served as a caretaker to so many other people throughout her life and Greg was grateful to be there for her. Finally she said, "I don't want to play anymore." She didn't want any more poking and prodding by the doctors. The last thing Greg said to Pam was: "I'll always love you."

Pam will best be remembered for her smile. She loved to have fun, dance, go out to eat and travel back East. She was the life of the party… always giving away food and everything she could. She was strong and yet soft with a tender heart. She had a huge heart and she cared about everyone and everything. She was the glue that kept her family together.

Greg will miss everything about Pam… she was his friend and his companion… they had all these plans for the future… they had reservations for Cancun this Winter and reservations for Palm Springs in the Spring. He misses her smile, her laugh and her conversation.

Her advice to everyone would be to have a good time in life and rejoice that she's not in pain anymore. For her grandchildren, she would want the kids to finish school, be a good person, don't do anyone wrong, and try to find someone you care about to spend your life with.

Pam was preceded in death by her parents Bob and Joan White; and her son Robert Early. She is loved and remembered by her husband Greg; her son James and daughter-in-law Roxanna; her daughter Brooke and son-in-law Frank; her daughter Wendi and son-in-law Michael; her grandchildren Tristan, Ashley, Gwen, Patricia, Andrew and Megan; her brother Mez and sister-in-law Bobbi; her niece Jennifer and nephew Mez Jr.; her aunts and uncles; her cousins back East - Tom, George, Robert George and Suzie; many cousins, close friends and neighbors.

See the marker for Pam's father, Bob White here: http://celebrantpam.com/memorials/bobwhite.html.
See the marker for Pam's mother, Joan White here: http://celebrantpam.com/memorials/joanwhite.html.
See the marker for Pam's son, Robert Early here: http://celebrantpam.com/memorials/robertearly.html.