Pamela Jean Bookman

Pamela (Pam) Jean Bookman, 72, of Belpre, Ohio, and Merritt Island, Florida, passed away Tuesday, January 3, 2017. She will be greatly missed and forever remembered for her loving and compassionate nature, her insight and generosity of heart, and her spirited sense of humor, which brought joy and laughter to everyone fortunate enough to know her. Pam was born in Parkersburg, West Virginia, to parents Everette (Jack) Smith, Jr., and Ruth Welch Smith. She married her high school sweetheart, Darryl Lee Bookman, in 1963 and relocated to Florida where she began an extensive federal service career spanning 37 years at several different agencies that included the Treasury, Air Force, NASA, and Justice departments. Pam was an inspiration to so many who knew her. She began her first college course at the age of 40, talking a colleague into enrolling with her. Her friend lamented that they would be 50 by the time they graduated, to which Pam replied, “Yes, but we'll be 50 anyway.” She “clepped” almost two years of college credits and went on to earn a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Central Florida, a master's degree in Management from Florida Institute of Technology, and a master's degree in Management of Technology from the University of Miami. She was quickly promoted to Federal Women's Program Manager in the Equal Opportunity Program Office at Kennedy Space Center (KSC). During that time she also completed a special assignment as Executive Officer to the NASA Chief Scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. When she returned to Florida, Pam was the Awards Liaison Officer for KSC and the Commercialization Manager (with special emphasis in marketing and licensing of technologies developed at KSC) in NASA's Technology Commercialization Office. She received numerous awards during her distinguished career, including induction into the Space Technology Hall of Fame, but she considered her most significant accomplishment to be her contribution to seeing Adam Kissiah, inventor of the cochlear implant, who researched his technology while a NASA engineer 20 years earlier, achieve his long overdue recognition. She submitted him for a Space Act Award, which he won, along with the largest monetary award ever given to a single inventor in KSC's history. Kissiah was inducted into the Space Technology Hall of Fame and went on to win several other prestigious awards. Pam traveled Europe and Africa extensively with her husband and son, was a certified scuba diver, an avid reader (often as many as five books a week!), and had a lifelong passion for golf. She was a great lover of animals, adopting numerous cats and dogs (her “babies”) over the years. A devout Christian, she was a member of the Little Hocking Church of Christ. Pam was preceded in death by her parents and by her sisters, Carole Ann Swain (Robert Swain) and Leslie Joan Ridgway. She is survived by her beloved husband of 53 years, Darryl Lee Bookman; their son, Brendon Darryl Bookman; her sisters, Sherry Coleman-Marotta (Thomas Marotta), Stephie Smith, and Dr. Kimberly Rogers (Ron Bove); eight nieces and nephews; fourteen great-nieces and nephews; and six great-great nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to the Humane Society of Parkersburg, 530 29th St., Parkersburg, WV 26101, (304) 422-5541, would be very much appreciated.