Pamela Grace (Jacobson) McNamara

Pamela Grace Jacobson McNamara, “Yia Yia,” was born at the Chelsea Naval Hospital on May 21, 1948 to Thomas and Irene Jacobson of Hull. She died peacefully in her home in Marshfield on September 19, 2021 with her family by her side. Despite her brave efforts and family support, she lost her battle with cancer at the age of 73.

She met her husband, Michael, when her family moved from Weymouth to Hull at the beginning of her senior year of Hull High School in 1965. They married after college on August 29, 1970. Pamela taught elementary school at St. Gregory’s and St. Ambrose Schools in Dorchester early in their marriage. Beginning in 1974 she became a full-time mother and raised her three children Adam, Justin, and Alyssa at their homes in East Hampton, Marshfield and Cohasset, Massachusetts. While living in Cohasset, she happily began teaching at the Deer Hill Elementary School in Cohasset, and did so for 15 years.  She taught 4th and 5th grade. Math was her favorite subject. She retired from teaching in 2009, just months before her daughter, Alyssa, had her first child. For the next eleven years, she was happily “employed” 3 or 4 days a week as a grandmother for her three sets of grandchildren. She would drive 55 miles to Ipswich to watch Adam and Dylanie’s children: Thalia, Graham and Cole McNamara, or 56 miles to Westford to watch Justin and Suzanne’s children: Charlotte, Cameron and Rose McNamara, or have a much shorter commute (Norwell then Marshfield) to watch Alyssa and Kirk’s children: Myla, Callie and Arden Reed. In short, she was a very happy world class grandmother. Beginning in 2001, Pamela and Michael would spend some time at their vacation home in Florida. In 2016, they began spending the winter months there while being visited often by their children and grandchildren. These were joyful times and wonderful memories for Yia Yia! She was a wonderful mother and wife, and her memory will be eternal.

She is survived by her husband of 51 years, Michael Joseph McNamara of Marshfield, her three children, Alyssa McNamara Reed (Marshfield), Justin J. McNamara (Westford), Adam M. McNamara (Ipswich), and nine grandchildren. She is also survived by her brothers, Timothy Jacobson and Joel Jacobson, and her sisters, Andrea White, Valerie Bates, and Cynthia Putnam.

Family and friends are invited to visiting hours on Thursday, September 23, 2021 from 4-7 pm in McNamara Sparrell Funeral Home, 1 Summer St. (across from St. Anthony Church), Cohasset, MA. 02025. A Funeral Service will be held on Friday, September 24, 2021 at 10:30 am in the Panagia Greek Orthodox Church, 811Jerusalem Road, Cohasset, MA. 02025. Private burial at a later date.  

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