Permilla "Pam" Louise (Lampman) Jenkins

Permilla Louise Lampman Jenkins died peacefully at home on Valentine’s Day, 2020. She was born May 2, 1933, in LaPorte, Indiana, to J. Allen Lampman, a lawyer, and Erma Louise Coburn Lampman, a teacher. Her family moved to Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, when she was five, and she grew up there. She proudly carried the name of her great-grandmother, Permilla, but she acquired the nickname of “Pam” in college, and most people found that easier to pronounce.

She earned a B.A. in Spanish from Central Michigan University, and an M.A. in Spanish from the University of Michigan. There, she met her “twin soul” and future husband, Eldon Bernard Jenkins, also earning an M.A. in Spanish. They were married at the end of the school year in 1956. They spent their first year of marriage living in a cottage on Hill’s Island in the Upper Peninsula. They returned to Ann Arbor, where Eldon pursued his Ph.D., while Pam taught English and Latin at Ypsilanti High School.

In 1963, Eldon was hired to teach Spanish in the Foreign Language Department (now Modern Languages and Classics) at what was then Ball State Teachers College. Three years later, Pam also was hired as an Instructor of Spanish. In 1975, Eldon died unexpectedly of a heart attack, leaving Pam a widow at the age of 42. Their daughter, Elisa, became Pam’s lifelong companion and the silent partner behind her many activities. Pam continued to teach Spanish at Ball State until 2008.

Pam loved music. She played oboe in the Central Michigan concert band and glockenspiel in the marching band. She once had ambitions of being an opera singer. She was active in the music sorority Delta Omicron and sang a solo at her college graduation. In 1968, she was a founding member of the Dissonant Distaffs, a singing group formed within the BSU Women’s Club (then the University Wives Club). She served as chair of the group for many years. She helped coordinate the Thanks-singing Festival, the annual ecumenical music service benefitting Christian Ministries of Delaware County. She was music librarian at her church, College Avenue United Methodist Church, where she sang in the choir and played in the bell choir.

Pam was proud to be a fourth-generation Methodist, and her faith infused everything she did. She was always at work behind the scenes at College Avenue UMC. Each week, she clipped coupons and watched for discounts on items for Christian Ministries’ Food Pantry and Baby Care Corner. She hauled endless loads of paper recycling to the Muncie Mission. Despite the small salary of a contract faculty member, she gave generously to students seeking support for travel and study. Above all, she was a kind and giving presence, a listener and gentle encourager, whether in a “religious” context or not. As with many quiet people, Pam received little recognition in this life. The words she longed to hear upon entering the next life were “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Pam is survived by her daughter and closest friend, Elisa Jane Jenkins; her sister, Marjorie Ann (Kenneth) Kelley; her brother, Jack Allen (Arleen) Lampman; her cousins Beverly “Cobe” Coburn and William Coburn; and many nieces and nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Allen and Erma Lampman; her husband, Eldon Jenkins; her sister, Loraine Martha Lampman Mayes; her brother-in-law, Bill Mayes; brothers- and sisters-in-law, Alfred and Erma Jenkins, Lyle and Lollie Jenkins, Wallace and Virginia Jenkins; nephews Dennis and Victor Jenkins; niece June Jenkins Peffer-Canning; cousins Eugene, Lewis and Richard Babcock, Betty King, Charlene Brooks, James Dennis, Donna Carroll, Mary Gingrich, Sarah Hadachek; and many beloved animals, whom she and Elisa considered guardian spirits.

Pam and Elisa say a special thank-you to Susie Aul and Abbie Guthrie of IU Health Hospice at Ball Memorial.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Pam’s memory may be made to Christian Ministries of Delaware County, 401 E. Main St., Muncie, IN 47305, or to the BSU Women’s Club Scholarship Fund for Non-Traditional Students (Fund #30067), BSU Foundation, Alumni Center, Muncie, IN 47304.

A service to celebrate Pam’s life will take place at a later date.

The family will receive online condolences at www.parsonmortuary.com

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