On Wednesday, November 7 at IU Health/Ball Memorial Hospital, Pamela Sue (Freeman) Barnhouse left the pleasures and struggles of this world to experience the magnificent joy of God’s heavenly kingdom.

She was born on November 12, 1958 in Jasper, Indiana, to Haskill and Patricia (Tolen) Freeman.  She lived in East Central Indiana most of her life, growing up in Cammack and graduating from Yorktown High School in 1977.

She worked at several jobs including time at Thomas Auditing and in several retail positions in the Muncie and Portland area, including Val Stores and Zayres in Muncie.  A favorite job was at Muncie Public Library, primarily at the Maring-Hunt branch where she worked for several years.  Her final job, interrupted by illness, was working in the office of Mayor Dennis Tyler.

Pam was active in the community, serving on the Board of Directors of Open Door Health Services and traveling to Washington DC with other Directors to meet with elected officials.  She also played leadership roles in the anti-poverty work of TEAMwork for Quality Living (now Forward S.T.E.P.S of Second Harvest Food Bank).  Pam attended Circles USA national conferences and represented the community in national conversations about poverty.  She was frequently a speaker at poverty simulations and enjoyed relationships with individuals and volunteers who were focusing on people’s passages from surviving to thriving.

Her passions were family and friends and the opportunity to share her views with people she met.  She considered herself a “hugger” and made sure that people sticking out their hands to shake got a hug instead. She was a member of First Baptist Church and enjoyed reading and traveling.  Another pastime was playing bingo.  If she won anything, she always gave some of her winnings to others with whom she was playing.

She spent almost half her life with her husband, John Barnhouse, whom she married on December 28, 1995.  John’s large family, her brother-in-laws and sister-in-laws and their children and grandchildren were very important to her.

Besides her husband, Pam is survived by stepdaughter Angel Sinclair and grandsons Michael and Matthew. Her sister Shirley (Freeman) Thomas and nephew and nieces Lyle Baker (Erica) and Patricia (Sergio) Baker all of Angola and Stephanie (Marvin) Cook of Flint, Michigan survive.  She is also survived by an uncle Jim (Billie) Freeman of Bloomington.  She will be greatly missed by great nephews Lyle, Quenton, Eliseo, Ben, Malachi and Vinnie and great niece Katie, all of Angola.  Pam also has several cousins, a special neighbor Mamma Tish, and several very dear friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents and by her brother Joe Freeman, all of Cammack.

Her funeral will be Monday, November 12, at 1 p.m. at First Baptist Church, 309 E. Adams, Muncie.  The day is Pam’s birthday, and mourners will celebrate her life and her first birthday in heaven.  Friends and family may call from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at the church.

Memorials may be sent to Second Harvest Food Bank of East Central Indiana and designated to Forward S.T.E.P.S. in her memory or to First Baptist Church of Muncie.