Pamela Chase Kucera

Born at an elevation above nine thousand feet in the Union Miner’s Hospital of Silverton, Colorado, in 1936, Pamela Chase Kucera seemed to have the majesty of the Rocky Mountains woven into her very being from the outset. She was the beloved granddaughter of Charles A.

Chase, the mining engineer who founded the Shenandoah- Dives Mill, one of the few mines of that era to act responsibly by keeping the tailings from poisoning the water.

From early on, Pamela was imbued with a sense of environmental responsibility, history and adventure that ran as deep as the mines of Silverton itself.

Her parents, Elisabeth Chase and Robert T. Wilson (a communications officer in the U.S. Navy), fostered her adventurous spirit. Pamela’s childhood memories were filled with the thrill of scaling mountains and racing her young friends through the vast landscape, even daring to ride in the ore buckets that dangled from above. This innate connection to the land and its splendors only deepened as she matured.

Pamela’s love for the outdoors and the beauty of the natural world was mirrored in her choice of husband and life partner, Richard E. Kucera.

When they met, Richard was earning his Ph.D. in Geology at the Colorado School of Mines in Boulder. He specialized in Glaciology and was one of the first scientists to cross Greenland on foot.

Pamela was pursuing a degree in Geography, and her talents found a perfect outlet in cartography. In a time when each map was meticulously handdrawn, her creations were nothing short of artwork, capturing not just geography but the beauty of the landscapes she depicted. When their parents used to worry about them trekking around the Colorado mountains for weeks, they would quip that there were no telephones in the wilderness!

They found their home in Vancouver, Canada, where Richard became the head of the Department of Geology at the University of British Columbia. They expanded their family with the birth of their daughter Susan and their son Stephen. Summers were special, spent in Alberta, where the family’s focus shifted to the study of the Athabasca Glacier. Together, Pam and Richard worked on books exploring the Columbia Icefields.

Pamela’s radiance was palpable. Her smile had the power to illuminate any room, revealing an inner beauty that made her a cherished mother and an all-around extraordinary human being.

Though we mourn her physical loss, we find solace in imagining her spirit happily wandering the idyllic hills and flower-strewn meadows that surround Silverton—her first home and the eternal sanctuary of her heart.

Pamela leaves behind her son Stephen, her daughter Susan, and a granddaughter Anna—of whom she was ineffably proud. Pamela will be deeply missed, yet her legacy—as beautiful as the mountain ranges she loved — will undoubtedly endure.