Pamela Jean Kaye

1942 - 2024

Pamela Jean Kaye
Pam was born in 1942 in Waco, Texas to C.A. (Toppy) and Edna Baker Hutto. She was the first born, and as her siblings teased her, undoubtably the favorite child.
In 1953 the family moved to San Antonio. Pam excelled in school and was a talented pianist who was always the final performer at any of her recitals. She graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1960 and attended Texas A & I University and San Antonio College.
Her first job was in the office of legendary Texas congressman Henry Gonzalez, before moving to WOAI-TV, the San Antonio NBC affiliate. In the mid-sixties she made a dramatic change in her life by moving to California.
Pam loved San Francisco and all it had to offer. She first worked as an accountant for Davidson Films, where she met her future husband, Arthur Kaye. She then moved to Korty Films, followed by several years working for Francis Ford Coppola at Zoetrope Studios. While there, she worked in production accounting for such films as Apocalypse Now and The Godfather Part II. She then moved to Lucasfilm, working at Industrial Light & Magic. At ILM she worked on numerous productions including Jurassic Park, Terminator 2, and The Mask.
Eventually, she was fortunate to join the San Francisco Opera as the Rehearsal Department Administrator. This was a dream job for her, as Pam and Arthur's first love was opera. They traveled the world to attend different productions and developed lasting friendships with many of the performers.
Following her retirement from the Opera, she took a part time position as a staff usher at the San Francisco Symphony, where she was still working at the time of her death.
But you can't talk about Pam's life without telling the great love story of Pam and Arthur. Never were two people more opposite in personality and temperament. Pam was short and small, quiet, calm, kind and even-tempered. Arthur was big and tall, loud, a joke teller, a tease and always the life of the party. Their total love and devotion for each other was evident to everyone who knew them. Pam lost Arthur in 2010 and had missed him every day since his passing. There is no doubt they are now together forever.
Pam is survived by her Texas family, sisters Carla (Rodger) Bruce and Debbie (Jim) Tressa, sister-in-law Linda Long, nieces Emily Bruce, Jessica (Jeremy) Kieser, Jenny (James) Doran and their sons Oliver and Cooper, nephews Chad (Ginger) Hutto and their sons Blake and Logan (Emmy), and Brent Hutto, Stephen (Erin) Tressa and their son Noah.
She was preceded in death by her brother Bill Hutto and nephew Tim Hutto.
While Pam had no blood relatives in California, she had a huge family of friends too numerous to list, but we owe a special thank you to Della, Ed, Emily and Natalie Dobranski, Shinji and Sandra Eshima and Nic Giardini for their support and assistance in settling Pam's affairs.
We lost Pam unexpectedly in July. She will be truly missed.
A gathering will be held at Opera Plaza on Monday, Oct. 21 at 5 p.m. Please email jb51482@gmail.com with questions or to RSVP.
If you'd like to make a gift in her memory, please consider The San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Symphony or the charity of your choice.