Pamala Mary Makarenich (1941 – 2021)
Pam Makarenich was born in Taranaki, New Zealand to parents Gordon and Maree Stanford. She finished teacher’s college and then, at age twenty-one, took off to see the world with her friend Janice. They stopped in many countries to sightsee and work. In Vancouver they answered an ad for waitresses in Haines Junction.1)
Pam met Paul Makarenich soon after she arrived in the Junction, and they eventually made their home in Whitehorse. Pam taught at Whitehorse Elementary and later at Jack Hulland and Selkirk schools for a total of thirty-five years. She received a bachelor’s degree and then a Master’s in Education from the University of British Columbia and she strove to make a difference in the lives of her pupils. Pam and Paul explored Canada and almost every part of Yukon and Alaska. In 1991, Pam travelled alone to Russia to visit Paul’s relatives. She was an avid gardener and loved the outdoors. In her final years Pam lived with Alzheimer’s disease.2)