Pamela Lee Bimson

Pamela Lee Bimson passed away peacefully on November 1, 2024 at the New York University Hospice in New York City. She was 77. Survivors include her husband, K. Deane Reade, Jr., for whom she was the center of his universe, her sons Christian Bimson Reade, Tracy C.H. Reade (Kelsey) and K. Deane Reade, III (Teri), her brothers Earl Lee Bimson (Miami, NM) and Mark Lee Bimson (Rome, Italy), four grandchildren T.J.Mann (Michelle), Courtney Moretta ( Nicholas), Deane McL. Reade, Jeanne A.M. Reade, and five great grandchildren T.J.Mann, Jr., Brielle Mann, Kaylee Mann, Anthony Deane Moretta, and Luca Nicholas Moretta. She was preceded in death by her parents Earl Lee Bimson and Betty Carrol Bimson of Phoenix, Arizona.

Pam was born February 13, 1947 in Phoenix, Arizona to Earl and Betty Bimson. She attended North Phoenix High School and later graduated from Monte Rosa Boarding School in Montreaux, Switzerland, and the University of Colorado, at Boulder. She then moved to New York City where she worked for Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company in the commercial lending department. It was there that she met her future husband K. Deane Reade, Jr., the love of her life, whom she married in 1978.

Pam was an accomplished skier, like her father, a frustrated Indy car driver and a lover of all animals. She was also skilled at the art of needlepoint, and was partners with friends in Work Room Partners, a toleware business. Pam was deeply committed to her volunteer work in several community organizations in New York City, Phoenix, Martha’s Vineyard and Daufuskie Island, South Carolina. Inspired by family members who were instrumental in the founding of the Phoenix Zoo, Pam, as a child, helped to raise- in her own home - the Phoenix Zoo’s first family of orangutans until they could move into the zoo’s newly constructed habitat and enclosures.

Pam was passionate about making her communities and the world a better place. She was a devoted lifetime member of the New York Junior League and served in multiple leadership capacities there, receiving both the Outstanding Volunteer and the Outstanding Sustainer Awards.

Pam was an active and dedicated member of St. James Episcopal Church in New York City, where she served as Directress of the Alter Guild and as a licensed Lay Minister. She was an active supporter of the church’s outreach programs and traveled several times with fellow St. James parishioners to overseas destinations including Spain, Israel, Egypt, Jordan and Malawi to support the church’s humanitarian programs.

Pam was a Director of the New York City Girls Club and the Trail Blazers Camps for Underprivileged Children and was a Trustee of her family’s charitable foundation. She was a lifetime member of the Phoenix Zoo Auxiliary, a Charter Member of the Haig Point Club & Association of Daufuskie Island, South Carolina, a member of the Phoenix Country Club and a long-time supporter and congregant of the Martha’s Vineyard Methodist Tabernacle and Camp Grounds Association.

Her funeral is scheduled for 11 A.M. on November 22, 2024 at St. James Episcopal Church, 865 Madison Avenue & 71st Street in New York City. The Reverend Brenda G. Husson, Rector Emeritus and the Reverend Zachary Thompson, Rector will officiate.

In lieu of flowers the family suggests donations in Pam’s memory to St. James Episcopal Church 865 Madison Avenue, NY, NY 10021, the Phoenix Zoo, 455 North Galvin Parkway, Phoenix, AZ 85008, or Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association’s Tabernacle Restoration Fund, P.O. Box 1685, Oak Bluffs, Ma. 02557.

Pam’s family wishes to express its heartfelt gratitude to all of the doctors, nurses, hospitals’ staff and special caregivers for their many kindnesses and their extraordinary and selfless efforts on Pam’s behalf.

Notes of condolence can be sent to Pam’s family at [email protected]