With her husband of 56 years at her side, Pamalla Bonham Barber, formerly of Kanab, Utah, and Newberry Springs, California, died Wednesday, November 26, 2025, in Hurricane, Utah.
Pamalla, known as “Pam” to friends and family, was born April 17, 1945, in Kanab, Utah, to parents Gilbert “Abe” Clatus Bonham and Edith Cram Bonham, and was a grand-daughter of Alexander Smith Cram and Margaret Swapp. She graduated from Kanab High School and later from business school in Salt Lake City.
While home in Kanab and working as a hostess for Whit Parry at the historic Parry’s Lodge, Pam met the love of her life, James “Jim” Byron Barber, who arrived in town as part of the filming crew for the western motion picture “Duel at Diablo.” They married in California.
Pam worked for Standard Oil in Los Angeles as James worked his way through the ranks of the film industry union. Jim recalls that Pam once told her employer that she had to have Mondays and Fridays off to ride her horse.
In 1972, Jim and Pam welcomed their son, James Scott Barber.
The family’s love of their horses and the outdoors eventually led the Barbers to leave the city for the spacious western Mojave Desert. They developed their Newberry Springs property into a desert oasis, complete with a lake.
Always in the middle of everything, Pam served as a leader for the local 4H, PTA, Community Service District, and on the school board. She led a successful, grassroots effort to halt an intended hazardous waste site planned for a neighboring area of San Bernardino County. In later years, she managed permits and led organized horse rides in her beloved Death Valley, often urging her extended family to visit and witness the annual wildflower bloom. Pam retired from a many-year career at Barstow Community College, lastly working in the Dean’s office.
Pam loved riding her horse with her family and dear friends, and nurturing her artistic side through painting, ceramics and crocheting.
She returned to southern Utah with Jim in 2024.
Pam is survived by her husband, James Byron Barber; her son, James Scott Barber (Kathleen Alexandra); her sisters-in-law, Sally Bonham and Angela Bonham-Bunting; and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, Abe and Edith Bonham; her brothers, Alex Gilbert Bonham, James Cram Bonham and an infant brother; and sister-in-law Patricia Bennett.
Pam will be laid to rest in Kanab Cemetery in a graveside service on Saturday, December 6th, at 1 p.m., overseen by Mosdell Mortuary of Kanab. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donating to a favorite charity in the spirit of Pam’s lifetime of civic service.