Rest in peace, Pam Powell

Most of you probably didn't know Pam Powell, so the news of her passing might not strike you as all that important.

But it's important to note an event that leaves the Clemson athletics department family hurting, and Powell's death certainly brings that occasion.

Powell began working at Clemson in 1976 when Annie Tribble hired her as an administrative assistant for the fledgling women's basketball program. She went on to serve the athletics department for more than three decades, working as the secretary for Bobby Robinson and Terry Don Phillips before she retired a couple of years ago.

The titles "administrative assistant" and "secretary" are not nearly precise enough to describe Powell's position, because she was so much more than that. She ran the show over there, and that was apparent to anyone who spent any time around her. And if you didn't already know it, she wouldn't hesitate to point it out.

I regularly dealt with Pam in person and over the phone from the time I moved to Clemson in 2004 until she left. And when I say she was tight-lipped and blunt, I mean it as a compliment because those are the qualities a person in her position is supposed to possess and project -- particularly in the presence of reporters who are sniffing around and asking questions.

But if you paid close attention, there was warmth beneath the gate-keeper exterior. There was a feeling of grace and charm and hospitality that you pick up when you're dealing with almost all of the folks who have been around that place a long time. She was a part of the family vibe that made Clemson's athletics department feel different from most others.

Powell had every reason to be mad at the world. She lost her husband, Tommy Powell, in 2001 when he died at age 42. (Tommy, a former mayor of Salem, was responsible for starting and running WCCP-FM, now the flagship station of Clemson athletics.)

Pam and I kept in touch after she left Clemson. She'd call or text every now and then to ask about the goings-on in the athletics department. You knew she missed the place, simply because Clemson was so much a part of who she was.

A few weeks ago, she told me she wasn't feeling well. She thought she had the flu. A few days later, I sent her a text asking how she was feeling and the response was: "Not good."

Early last week, I sent her a text asking if she was any better and she didn't respond. Sent her another a day later. Again, no response.

She had checked herself in to the emergency room and had been at Oconee Memorial Hospital ever since. Initially they thought it was pneumonia. Then something else. She was in bad shape, but at last check they didn't consider her condition life-threatening.

A lot of people are hurting right now, including her 87-year-old mother who spent every minute by her daughter's side at the hospital before her passing early this morning.

Thoughts and prayers go out to everyone who knew Pam ... and loved her.

LW