When Pam Tubbs was two years old, her family moved from Charlotte, N.C. to Columbia, S.C., where her father worked for General Electric. Shortly before the move, Pam contracted polio and had to learn to walk again. Miraculously, she recovered and appeared to have been adversely impacted only on a short-term basis.  Her childhood was filled with running, riding bikes, playing baseball, hiking and clogging.

 

Music has always been a part of Pam’s life.  Her parents' “roots” are in Eastern Kentucky where, due to the mountains, most music was made by people as entertainment. Her mother had a vinyl record collection of classical and dance music which Pam enjoyed listening to. When Pam was 13 years old, her mother took a part-time job to purchase a piano which arrived on Christmas Eve. Pam immediately began playing the piano and studied under a neighborhood teacher who had been a concert pianist in Poland.  Although she began lessons later than most, Pam dreamed of a career as a concert pianist.  That dream was shattered when her audition for a music scholarship went poorly. Fortunately, she switched to being a voice major and found her true calling.

 

Pam loves to sing; she was part of the Concert Choir at the University of South Carolina.  While in college and through the mid 70's, Pam performed as a solo pianist/singer and in various musical theater productions in Columbia.  Her first job job upon graduation, teaching seventh-graders, swiftly caused her to realize that public education wasn’t the career for her. 

 

A boyfriend and gifted journalist who had been in the Navy changed Pam’s life forever.  He talked of visiting far away ports of call, which got Pam to thinking about joining the Navy. She applied and was accepted for Officer Candidate School.  As a liberal arts major, however, she found the Navy curriculum, which included subjects such as thermodynamics and celestial navigation, extremely challenging.  She credits her boyfriend with encouraging her to succeed when the going got tough. 

 

For her first assignment, the Navy sent Pam to be public affairs officer for a submarine shipyard in the San Francisco Bay area. On her way to California, she stopped in Memphis to visit her roommate from Officer Candidate School. A close friend, she told Pam she had met the “perfect” guy for her.  That perfect guy turned out to be Ace Tubbs.  After a whirlwind courtship, Ace and Pam were engaged three months later, and married six months after that. Early married life had Pam stationed in the Bay area while Ace was stationed in Memphis. They had been married for a year before they were able to live in the same place.

 

As Pam was climbing the military ranks, the effects of her childhood polio started to show up. She was fortunate that by that time, the U.S. Navy had begun to allow women to dress in trousers, which hid her brace, and flat shoes, which enabled her compensate for her weakened leg. Ultimately, she was promoted to captain; her final duty station in Norfolk was in command of pay, personnel and transportation services for all Navy activities in the U. S. Atlantic Fleet.  After 26 years, she retired from the Navy.

 

When the Navy stationed her in Japan in the late 90's, she met fellow officer Julie Keesling. Years later, Pam moved to Norfolk, where she re-connected with Julie, who introduced her to Rotary; she joined our club in 2003.  As a polio survivor, Pam was immediately supportive of Rotary’s PolioPlus initiative; she is a Paul Harris Fellow.