Loving wife, mother and grandmother, partner in Powell’s Hardware and Department Store

Pamela Garr Herrlinger, 82, a longtime Claremont resident who recently relocated to Issaquah, Washington, died peacefully at home surrounded by family on October 14, from a blood cancer called Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS).

She was born on September 9, 1939, to parents Hester and Turner M. Garr. She attended Beloit College in Wisconsin and graduated from Whittier College in 1962 with a degree in political science and education.

Following her marriage to Al Herrlinger, and the birth of their two children, Albert IV and Lee Anne, she began her teaching career that would last 25 years. She was also a silent partner in Powell’s Hardware and Department Store, a family-run business in Claremont from 1909 to 1995. In retirement, she loved traveling with her husband and friends in their RV, particularly to San Onofre State Beach.

In 2018 she and Al relocated to the Pacific Northwest to be near their children and grandchildren, a move that brought her great joy.

She was a third-generation Californian and Claremont resident. Her birth father predeceased her when she was four years old, and her mother married Myron F. Powell in 1946, whom she said was “a wonderful father.” She was a socially active woman who was deeply involved in family and teaching most of her life.

She was a member of the Claremont Red Cross, The Economy Shop board and served for many years with the parent faculty association and the Girl Scouts of America. She was a longtime member of the P.E.O. sisterhood, most recently chapter DI, Washington. P.E.O. is an organization that promotes the education of women by giving scholarships, grants and loans to women in need.

She was a member of Claremont United Church of Christ Congregational. She will be remembered as a loving wife, mother and grandmother.

She is survived by her husband Al; son, Albert IV and daughter-in-law Karie of Portland, Oregon, and grandchildren Honor and Levi; daughter, Lee Anne and son-in-law Andrew Linnemann and grandchildren Sylas and Amelia, of Issaquah; sister-in-law, Mary Jeanne Herrlinger of Claremont; brother-in-law, Lawrence Herrlinger of Louisville, Kentucky; niece, Susanna Garr Meister; nephew, Turner Lee Garr; and by numerous great nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her brother, Turner Lee Garr.