Pamela Ann MCDOUGALL

MCDOUGALL, Pamela Ann
1925 – 2015
Pamela was born in Ottawa on May 9, 1925. She passed away peacefully on October 4, 2015, surrounded by loving nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her husband, Paul Mayer, and her parents, Marjorie (nee Sumner) and Samuel McDougall, her sisters, Alcy, Lorna, and Heather, her brother Sumner, and nieces, Erica and Penny. After graduation from Glebe Collegiate in Ottawa, she attended Mount Allison University in Sackville, NB. She graduated in 1945 with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry, and obtained her Masters from the University of Toronto. She then pursued advanced studies at the Sorbonne in Paris. In 1952, she accepted a position with the Department of External Affairs. Her first overseas appointment was to the Canadian Embassy in Bonn, West Germany in 1953 where she served for 3 ½ years attaining the position of 2nd Secretary. In 1958, Pamela became the political advisor to the Canadian Commissioner on the International Control Commission for Vietnam in Saigon. From 1961 to 1963 she served as 1st Secretary, and as counselor, at the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi, India. Later, as deputy head of the Far Eastern Division in Ottawa. In 1968, Pamela was appointed Ambassador to Poland, becoming only the 2nd woman to serve as an ambassador. In 1969 she received an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from Mount Allison University. Pamela returned to Ottawa in 1971 and joined the Privy Council as Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet. In 1974, she returned to External Affairs as Deputy Head of the departments Far Eastern Division. In 1976 Pamela became Chairman of the Tariff Board, and in 1979 she was appointed by Prime Minister Joe Clark as the first woman Deputy Minister, serving at the Department of Health and Welfare. In 1981, she was chosen by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to lead the "Royal Commission on Conditions of Foreign Service". In 1982, Pamela retired from the Federal Government and, for a number of years, served on the boards of Carleton University and the Royal Ottawa Hospital. Throughout her career, Pamela always kept in contact with her family and was a role model for all of her nieces and nephews. In 1987 she married Paul Mayer, a retired Canadian Colonel whom she had met three decades earlier, where he was serving on the International Supervisory Commission in Hanoi, Vietnam. Together they bought a cottage in the Gatineau Hills that was a wonderful gathering place for her relatives. Paul passed away in 2006.The family extends heartfelt thanks to the staff of Elm House at the Peter D. Clark Nursing Home, and Retire at Home, for the tender care they provided to Pammy through the years. A Funeral Service will be held at the Christ Church Anglican Church, Bells Corners, 3861 Old Richmond Rd, Nepean, on Saturday, October 10, 2015 at 10:30 a.m. A reception will follow.