Startled school mourns teacher after sudden death

"We were lucky we had her while we did,'' a co-worker of Pamela Branham says.

By AMY ELLIS

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 10, 2000

LAND O'LAKES -- Pamela Branham taught her students to help and comfort one another, leading by her example.

On school field trips, if students did not have enough money, Branham made sure they never felt left out, purchasing food and drink for them out of her own pocket.

After Branham died unexpectedly at 39, her fellow teachers realized she had taught her students well.

"They came together as a group and were there for each other, hugging and talking and supporting one another," said Geri Perchard, one of Branham's closest friends and a fellow teacher at Pine View Middle School. "It was nice to see the lessons she tried to instill in them had worked. They got the message."

Nearly two weeks after her mysterious death, students and teachers at Pine View still struggle with too many unanswered questions about Branham, who had worked as a special education teacher at the school since 1995.

Although she had been ill for some time, no one was prepared for her sudden death, said principal David Estabrook. Branham died at home on Jan. 29. The cause of death is not yet known; autopsy results are pending.

"The Friday before she died, she was here at school," Estabrook said. "She was a very kindhearted individual who would go out of her way for people, particularly the children. We will never know the full extent of the things she did because she wasn't the type to talk about it."

Because she was unable to have children of her own, the students were her family, said her husband, Kelly Branham.

"Those kids meant everything to her," he said. "To see them do well just made her light up."

Branham taught educable mentally handicapped students and deaf and hearing-impaired students. The Monday after she died, the school guidance counselor gathered her students in one room to break the news, Perchard said. Crisis counselors were on hand to help students with their grief.

"The kids just sat there in disbelief," said Perchard, who team-taught with Branham. "It was a very emotional day."

After the tears subsided, the students were given paper and markers to write letters to Branham's family, particularly her husband, who works as a maintenance manager at an apartment complex in Tampa.

One student, who has cerebral palsy and does not speak, used the computer to express his feelings, Perchard said.

"He wrote that she was in heaven with Jesus and the angels," Perchard said, choking back tears. "And he told her he loved her."

The outpouring of emotion from his wife's students was overwhelming, Kelly Branham said.

"Their letters just crush you," he said. "It was hard to read them."

Though she was devoted to her work, Branham also made time for her church, St. James United Methodist, where she taught sign language once a week.

The Rev. Clark Pickett, who performed the Branhams' wedding ceremony, returned from an out-of-town trip to preside over a memorial service for her last week. Many current and former students, along with some teachers from Pine View, attended.

"This has just been a devastating loss," said Pat Higgins, a nurse and teaching assistant who worked with Branham at Pine View before moving to Land O'Lakes High School in December. "God let us have an angel for awhile. We were lucky we had her while we did."

In addition to her husband, Branham is survived by her parents, John and Sandra Thomas of Knoxville; and two sisters, Susan Harbin of Knoxville and Brenda Todd of Concord, N.C.

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