Pam was born January 17, 1943 in Germantown, Pennsylvania to Harry and Clara White. She was married to Wallace G. Smith August 12, 1967 in Maple Glen, Pennsylvania. Pam, who had received a Batchelor’s degree from Kutztown University in 1965, and a Master’s degree from Temple University in 1967, enjoyed teaching in PA, NC and VA, while Wally was a dentist with the U.S. Coast Guard.
In 1998, Pam and Wally retired to Duck, a town on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It soon became evident to them that there was a critical need for dental care for underserved children on the Outer Banks, NC. Together they acquired a Mobile Dental Clinic for the Health Department and started moving school to school throughout Dare County. Many of the underprivileged children had extreme dental needs. Pam, now trained as a dental assistant, was the interface with the children and the school personnel. Pam and Wally would do everything from setting up the Mobile Dental Clinic, scheduling, providing dental care, then tearing down at one school and driving on to the next school to set up again. An evolution of their Mobile Dental program, now known as Miles of Smiles, still serves on the Outer Banks today.
After moving to the Sarasota area in 2000, Pam and Wally volunteered together for years in the Dental Clinic of the Sarasota Senior Friendship Center.
Another program modeled from their North Carolina initiative, is known as SmileMaker, with the goal to raise funds to purchase a Mobile Dental Clinic to provide dental care for the underserved children in the Florida Keys. The SmileMaker initiative is dedicated to Pam.
Wally comments, “I could not have done dentistry for these underserved people without Pam at my side. She was a full partner in our endeavor. Pam always had a soft and calming personality and related instantly with children as well as older adults.” These are the same characteristics that have made her a beautiful spouse, mother, grandmother and friend.
Pam was predeceased by her parents, Harry and Clara White of Pennsylvania, and her sister Patricia White Reed. She is survived by husband Wallace, two daughters and three grandchildren: Kimberly Rich, her husband David, and their son Andrew Zane; Stephanie Myer, her husband Philip, and their daughter Hope and son Wylder, all of Sarasota.
The Memorial Service will be private for immediate family members and interment will be at Sarasota National Cemetery.
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