Pamela Kimel Thompson's Obituary
Pamela Anne Kimel Thompson, 81, of Monroe, passed away on October 12, 2025, at Novant Health Matthews Medical Center.
A memorial service to celebrate her life will be held at 11:00 AM on Saturday, October 25, 2025, at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, with Father Benjamin Roberts officiating. The family will receive friends earlier that morning from 10:00 until 10:30 AM at Davis Chapel, prior to the service hour.
Born on January 10, 1944, in Forsyth County, North Carolina, Pamela was the daughter of the late Horace Mims Kimel and Ruth Ella Ashburn Kimel. She was a retired Registered Nurse, having devoted more than 40 years to caring for others with skill, compassion, and dedication. She earned her nursing degree from Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem and later received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Purdue University.
In addition to her clinical work, Pamela also taught nursing at Salem College in Louisville, Kentucky, for three years, where she shared her knowledge and passion for patient care with the next generation of nurses.
Pamela was a longtime member of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church and a woman of deep curiosity and joy. She loved to travel and treasured her adventures in Italy, Sweden, Russia, Scotland, England, and Hawaii. Through the Friendship Force, she and her husband welcomed families from Belgium and South Korea into their home, forming friendships that spanned the globe.
Her family remembers her as vivacious, loving, caring, and inquisitive—a bright and happy presence in every room. She was an avid reader who could often be found leaving the library with an armful of books, and she found beauty and meaning in the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe. Above all, Pamela was practical, kind, and deeply devoted to her family.
She is survived by her beloved husband, Carl Vincent Thompson; her daughter, Dee Anna Nunn of Willow Spring, NC; her brother, Sam Kimel and wife Linda of Rockford, IL; her sister, Marti Smith of Bolivia, NC; granddaughter Caitlin McClure of Warner Robins, GA; and two great-grandchildren, Aubrey McCleod of Bonaire, GA, and Alanna English of Willow Spring, NC.
She was preceded in death by her brother, Horace Mims “Jim” Kimel, Jr.
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