{"id":3113,"date":"2026-04-06T13:45:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T13:45:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/?p=3113"},"modified":"2026-04-06T13:45:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T13:45:40","slug":"in-memoriam-pam-walker-willis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/?p=3113","title":{"rendered":"In Memoriam: Pam Walker Willis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Pamela Walker Willis, principal of Walker & Willis, passed away on Sunday, March 29, 2026, at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut at age 70.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her family posted the following obit:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born in Hartford on February 15,1956, daughter of John Morales Walker and the late Barbara (Gleason) Walker, Pam was a graduate of Granby Memorial High School. As a young girl, Pam worked on a tobacco farm sewing the tobacco to be hung and cured in the barns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduating from high school, she worked for a leather company in Hartford and later as a secretary for Peter Roth, an office furniture supply company in Hartford. Pam also spent many years working in area restaurants including the One Way Fare in Simsbury where she met Mitch Conrad Willis, II, her beloved husband of 47 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Mitch\u2019s job with Marriott hotels relocated him to Bethesda, Maryland, Pam moved to Washington D.C. and took a position as an executive assistant to a managing partner with one of the \u201cBig 8\u201d accounting firms. Mitch\u2019s work later led them to Rhode Island, then to Groveland, Massachusetts before they returned to Connecticut, ultimately settling in Stafford Springs in 2005.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Connecticut, Pam started working with her father, who owned a lighting business. She worked in the garment industry briefly as a clothing sales representative before returning to help her father at the lighting company. She later bought his business and renamed it Walker & Willis, Inc. where she served as the company\u2019s president for more than 30 years. Pam earned many awards over the years from several manufacturers and served on the American Lighting Association Board of Governors for several terms. She loved her work and helping her many loyal customers. Her daughter Jessica later ran the company with her for the last several years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her spare time, Pam remained very active, golfing, taking rides with her husband on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle, travelling throughout the U.S. and abroad, skiing in New England, Colorado, and Europe, and volunteering her time to help several local charities that assisted children in the community. At home, she was a Scrabble shark, loved to play Backgammon, and was an excellent baker who was well-known for her Lime Curd White Chocolate cheesecake by her family and friends. She took pastry and baking classes at King Arthur Baking Company in Norwich, Vermont and \u2013 after her godson Lucas took a position as a chef at resort in Italy \u2013 she took her family to visit him and enjoy the culinary delights of Italy. She had a lifelong love of horses and showed her own horse for many years as a young woman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pam\u2019s mother, Barbara, was an avid golfer and passed her love of the sport onto Pam. After seeing a need to help children in the community, Pam and Mitch decided to help run a family golf tournament to benefit the Connecticut Children\u2019s Medical Center in Hartford and more recently for Autism Speaks. Over the years, Pam and Mitch raised thousands of dollars which helped countless children throughout Connecticut and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of all, Pam will be remembered as the consummate \u201cType A\u201d businesswoman, wife, mother, and grandmother. Whether she was traveling to one of Mitch\u2019s or her son\u2019s motorcross meets, planning a family vacation, baking for a holiday or for family party, or helping one of her favorite customers at Walker and Willis, Inc., Pam always gave everything she did 100 percent. Just over 10 years ago, Pam decided that she would run a half marathon in her late 50s \u2014 and she did that at Walt Disney World in Orlando with no training or preparation. It was this spirit that influenced the countless people who had the pleasure of knowing her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to her beloved husband Mitch and her father, John Walker, she leaves two children, Jessica Walker-Willis and her husband Matthew Davis of Vernon, and John Martin Willis of Lakewood, Colorado; four grandchildren, Sienna Willis of Ipswich, Massachusetts, Trent Willis of Tallahassee, Florida, Taylor Willis of Miami, and Samuel Willis of New York City; five siblings Candace Maylott and her husband Dean of Simsbury, Jeff Walker and his wife Karen of Granby, Jennifer Walker her husband Raegan Bishop of Farmington, Jaime Walker and his wife Regina of Northwood, New Hampshire, and Carol Keefe and her husband Desmond of Mount Laurel, New Jersey; 11 nieces and nephews; and many cousins, other relatives, and friends. Besides her mother, Barbara G. Walker, she was predeceased by three stepsons, Mitchell Conrad Willis, III, Paul Jacob Willis, and Colorado S. Willis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her family will receive friends on Thursday, April 9, 2-4 p.m. followed by a memorial service at 4 p.m., at The Lodge Community Chapel, 130 Deerfield Rd., Windsor, Connecticut. A reception will follow in the banquet hall at The Lodge. Burial will be private in the Woodlands Cemetery in Granville, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In memory of Pam\u2019s love of helping children in need, the family has requested that memorial contributions be made to National Children\u2019s Hospital<\/a>, which helped her daughter Jessica.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pamela Walker Willis, principal of Walker & Willis, passed away on Sunday, March 29, 2026, at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut at age 70. Her family posted the following obit: Born in Hartford on February 15,1956, daughter of John Morales Walker and the late Barbara (Gleason) Walker, Pam was a graduate of Granby Memorial…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3114,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":123,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,391,10],"tags":[965,576,966,967],"class_list":["post-3113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-featured","category-people","tag-in-memoriam","tag-obituary","tag-pam-walker-willis","tag-walker-willis"],"yoast_head":"\nIn Memoriam: Pam Walker Willis - Lighting News Now<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pamela Walker Willis of Walker & Willis passed away on Sunday, March 29, 2026, at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut at age 70.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lightingnewsnow.com\/?p=3113\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In Memoriam: Pam Walker Willis - 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