1950
Pamela
2016
Pamela Matsos
April 27, 1950 — September 6, 2016
Pamela Lou Miller Matsos, Age 66, of Wooster, died peacefully on Tuesday, September 6, 2016, at LifeCare Hospice in Wooster, after a five-year struggle with cancer.
Friends may call Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. at Roberts Funeral Home-Sherwood Chapel, Wooster. Memorial services will be Saturday at 11 a.m. at Oak Grove Mennonite Church, 7843 Smucker Rd., in Smithville. Pastors Miriam Zehr and Bob Schloneger will officiate. Burial will be at Oak Grove Mennonite Church Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to MCC Connections, 4080 Kidron Road, Kidron, OH 44636, http://thrift.mcc.org/mcc-connections.
Pamela was born on April 27, 1950 in Louisville, Ohio, to Leroy and Helene (Blosser) Miller. A lifelong member of the Mennonite Church, she was raised in Louisville, and graduated from Louisville High School. Pamela received her Bachelor's degree from Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, Connecticut, where she later went on to earn a Master's degree. She began her professional teaching career in New Haven public schools, teaching literature and directing plays. She married Spiro Matsos on July 30, 1976, and soon after partnered with him to open Bulldog Pizza, a popular pizza establishment adjacent to the Yale University campus.
In 1980, Pamela and Spiro moved back to her native Ohio and opened Matsos Family Restaurant in Wooster, which remains a successful business today. In addition to bookkeeping and working regularly in the restaurant, Pamela renewed her teaching career in 1986 by joining the faculty of Central Christian School (then Central Christian High School), where she remained for two decades. Pamela taught high school English at Central, but was perhaps equally known for directing plays and musicals there. She was the first director to produce a play in the school's Performing Arts Center, and her original play, Camp Wuz, 1965, premiered there in 1995. Beyond her work in the classroom and on stage, Pam served in a succession of administrative roles at Central Christian, first advancing to the position of Director of Development, where she spearheaded unprecedented campus development initiatives in the 1990's, including the Performing Arts Center and new classroom facilities. Later she worked as Director of Communications, then Assistant Principal, and eventually became the school's first female Principal.
In 2006, she transitioned to a new role as Head of School at Montessori School of Wooster. Pamela successfully ushered the school through a number of significant changes, most notably during its move to its current location on Akron Road. After retiring in 2012, Pamela felt honored to serve as an officer of the Women's Advisory Board at The College of Wooster, and was Board President from 2013 until 2016.
Pam will be remembered by the community as a successful entrepreneur, an educator who deeply loved her students and encouraged them to expand their perspective, and a passionate supporter of the arts. She was a person of faith who treasured her Mennonite heritage, and a beloved wife, sister, mother, and grandmother, whose unconditional love for her family can scarcely be measured.
Pam will be deeply missed by her husband, Spiro Matsos, of Wooster, as well as her sons, Christopher (Tory) Matsos and Lee Matsos, and her grandson, Theodore. She is survived by her brother Larry (Elnor) Miller of Louisville, and sister Jennifer (John) Sullivan of Dalton.
Pam was preceded in death by her mother and father.
Friends may call Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. at Roberts Funeral Home-Sherwood Chapel, Wooster. Memorial services will be Saturday at 11 a.m. at Oak Grove Mennonite Church, 7843 Smucker Rd., in Smithville. Pastors Miriam Zehr and Bob Schloneger will officiate. Burial will be at Oak Grove Mennonite Church Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to MCC Connections, 4080 Kidron Road, Kidron, OH 44636, http://thrift.mcc.org/mcc-connections.
Pamela was born on April 27, 1950 in Louisville, Ohio, to Leroy and Helene (Blosser) Miller. A lifelong member of the Mennonite Church, she was raised in Louisville, and graduated from Louisville High School. Pamela received her Bachelor's degree from Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, Connecticut, where she later went on to earn a Master's degree. She began her professional teaching career in New Haven public schools, teaching literature and directing plays. She married Spiro Matsos on July 30, 1976, and soon after partnered with him to open Bulldog Pizza, a popular pizza establishment adjacent to the Yale University campus.
In 1980, Pamela and Spiro moved back to her native Ohio and opened Matsos Family Restaurant in Wooster, which remains a successful business today. In addition to bookkeeping and working regularly in the restaurant, Pamela renewed her teaching career in 1986 by joining the faculty of Central Christian School (then Central Christian High School), where she remained for two decades. Pamela taught high school English at Central, but was perhaps equally known for directing plays and musicals there. She was the first director to produce a play in the school's Performing Arts Center, and her original play, Camp Wuz, 1965, premiered there in 1995. Beyond her work in the classroom and on stage, Pam served in a succession of administrative roles at Central Christian, first advancing to the position of Director of Development, where she spearheaded unprecedented campus development initiatives in the 1990's, including the Performing Arts Center and new classroom facilities. Later she worked as Director of Communications, then Assistant Principal, and eventually became the school's first female Principal.
In 2006, she transitioned to a new role as Head of School at Montessori School of Wooster. Pamela successfully ushered the school through a number of significant changes, most notably during its move to its current location on Akron Road. After retiring in 2012, Pamela felt honored to serve as an officer of the Women's Advisory Board at The College of Wooster, and was Board President from 2013 until 2016.
Pam will be remembered by the community as a successful entrepreneur, an educator who deeply loved her students and encouraged them to expand their perspective, and a passionate supporter of the arts. She was a person of faith who treasured her Mennonite heritage, and a beloved wife, sister, mother, and grandmother, whose unconditional love for her family can scarcely be measured.
Pam will be deeply missed by her husband, Spiro Matsos, of Wooster, as well as her sons, Christopher (Tory) Matsos and Lee Matsos, and her grandson, Theodore. She is survived by her brother Larry (Elnor) Miller of Louisville, and sister Jennifer (John) Sullivan of Dalton.
Pam was preceded in death by her mother and father.
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