Mary Pamela Wild Marsen

1946 - 2019

Mary Pamela Wild Marsen

On August 20th, 2019, Mary Pamela Wild Marsen, loving mother of four children, passed away at the age of 73.

Pamela was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on August 18th, 1946 to Dr. Frederick Arthur Wild Jr. and Mary Elizabeth Knight Wild. Early on in life, she fell in love with theatre. But as much as she enjoyed being in the audience, her dream was to be onstage.

The pursuit of her passion began at Tulane University where she graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Theatre in 1968. The bright lights of Broadway then lured her to New York City where she studied at Columbia University and received a Master of Fine Arts degree in Acting in 1971.

Pamela went on to play many different roles throughout her life. But some of her most important roles were the ones she played offstage.

She played the role of a Mother and raised four children. Over the years, she instilled them with her own values of intellect, empathy, enthusiasm, culture, and humor. Her tremendous display of love, support and devotion to them was recognized as one of her most inspired and committed roles.

She played the role of an Animal Lover and dedicated herself to improving the welfare of animals through volunteer work and animal rescue efforts. During her time as Director of Publications at the ASPCA, she founded the first pet assisted therapy program run by an animal shelter in the United States. She also operated a mail order business for a cruelty-free cosmetics company out of her dining room.

But one of her personal favorite roles was the one she was born to play: An Actress. While she found plenty of background work on many TV shows and movies, she would always come back to her first love of theatre and could be seen acting, singing and dancing in a long list of various musicals and plays ranging from local theatre productions to an international Broadway tour.

The curtain may have closed on her time with us, but her spirit will continue performing in our memories, thoughts and hearts forever.

Her adoring audience includes her children, Thomas, Jay, Edward and Anne; her former husband James; her sisters April, Adrienne and Valerie; her brothers Frederick and Alan; her nieces and nephews; and of course, her many beloved pets.

A celebration of Pamela's life will be held at 9 o'clock in the morning on Sunday December 8th, 2019 at Bergen County Players, 298 Kinderkamack Road, Oradell, NJ 07649. Memorial contributions may be made to the ASPCA or the Main Library of the New Orleans Public Library.