Pamela Ann Held (Rasmussen)
February 24, 1948 — December 12, 2013
Pamela Ann Held, 65, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, died on Thursday, December 12, 2013, at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City. Services: 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 17, 2013, at St. Mark’s Faith and Life Center, Marion, conducted by Pastor Perry Fruhling. Family will greet friends from 5-7 p.m. Monday, December 16, 2013, at Bowman Woods Media Center, Marion. Arrangements by Murdoch Funeral Home & Cremation Center, Marion.
Pam was born in Sioux City, Iowa, and all of the schools she attended were in a four-block area surrounding Morningside College where she attended college and met her future husband, George. The two were married in 1971. She earned both her BA in English and Master of Arts in Teaching degrees at Morningside.
She taught fourth grade at Nodland Elementary School in Sioux City for six years before taking on a full-time role as mother to her two girls. In 1981, the couple moved to Cedar Rapids where George took a job with CMF&Z advertising agency. In 1988, Pam returned to teaching at Bowman Woods Elementary in Cedar Rapids where she taught first grade, one year of fourth grade, and many years at second grade until her retirement at the end of the 2011 school year.
Pam loved many things – teaching, her friends, books, reading, learning, jewelry, miniatures, and her family. Most of all, she loved her Lord, and served him in many ways, starting the Pioneers program at St. Mark’s church and serving as a Sunday School teacher for many years.
Her dedication to her students was unparalleled. She often stayed after school, working long hours to prepare plans for the next day. She amassed her own classroom library of several thousand books, which she shared with her students. Her students knew her as “the teacher who always smiled.”
Her colleagues knew that if they needed resources or information or simply some kind, encouraging words, she was the first person to turn to. Her classroom skills and love of children were exceptional and deep.
Following her retirement, Pam devoted herself to caring for her first grandchild, commuting weekly to Des Moines to help so that her daughter could earn her master’s degree. She was a kind, loving, generous and self-less wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, aunt and friend.
Survivors include her husband, George Held of Cedar Rapids; mother, Alice Rasmussen; her children, Sara (Brett) Van Horn of Ames, Iowa, and Alicia (Ryan) Held-Morris of Des Moines; one beloved grandson, Henry; and siblings, Paul (Diana) Rasmussen of Clive, Patricia (Tom) Pohlman of Ames, Perry (Ivy) Rasmussen of Iowa City, and a brother-in-law, Hank (Pam) Held of Salida, Colorado.
She was preceded in death by her father, Max; father-in-law John Held, and mother-in-law, Mary Held.
Memorial gifts may be made to the Bowman Woods Elementary PTO for the Pam Held Caldecott Books program. The fund will be used to purchase award-winning children’s literature for the school’s library for as long as the funds last.
Pam was born in Sioux City, Iowa, and all of the schools she attended were in a four-block area surrounding Morningside College where she attended college and met her future husband, George. The two were married in 1971. She earned both her BA in English and Master of Arts in Teaching degrees at Morningside.
She taught fourth grade at Nodland Elementary School in Sioux City for six years before taking on a full-time role as mother to her two girls. In 1981, the couple moved to Cedar Rapids where George took a job with CMF&Z advertising agency. In 1988, Pam returned to teaching at Bowman Woods Elementary in Cedar Rapids where she taught first grade, one year of fourth grade, and many years at second grade until her retirement at the end of the 2011 school year.
Pam loved many things – teaching, her friends, books, reading, learning, jewelry, miniatures, and her family. Most of all, she loved her Lord, and served him in many ways, starting the Pioneers program at St. Mark’s church and serving as a Sunday School teacher for many years.
Her dedication to her students was unparalleled. She often stayed after school, working long hours to prepare plans for the next day. She amassed her own classroom library of several thousand books, which she shared with her students. Her students knew her as “the teacher who always smiled.”
Her colleagues knew that if they needed resources or information or simply some kind, encouraging words, she was the first person to turn to. Her classroom skills and love of children were exceptional and deep.
Following her retirement, Pam devoted herself to caring for her first grandchild, commuting weekly to Des Moines to help so that her daughter could earn her master’s degree. She was a kind, loving, generous and self-less wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, aunt and friend.
Survivors include her husband, George Held of Cedar Rapids; mother, Alice Rasmussen; her children, Sara (Brett) Van Horn of Ames, Iowa, and Alicia (Ryan) Held-Morris of Des Moines; one beloved grandson, Henry; and siblings, Paul (Diana) Rasmussen of Clive, Patricia (Tom) Pohlman of Ames, Perry (Ivy) Rasmussen of Iowa City, and a brother-in-law, Hank (Pam) Held of Salida, Colorado.
She was preceded in death by her father, Max; father-in-law John Held, and mother-in-law, Mary Held.
Memorial gifts may be made to the Bowman Woods Elementary PTO for the Pam Held Caldecott Books program. The fund will be used to purchase award-winning children’s literature for the school’s library for as long as the funds last.
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