Pamela G. (Cruse) Ratcliffe, 61, went home to be with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on Sept. 3, 2014. She passed unexpectedly but peacefully into the Lord’s arms surrounded by her entire immediate family.
Pamela G. (Cruze) Ratcliffe
Pam’s Christian faith was an inspiration to many and she led her life by demonstrating the love of Jesus to every person she encountered. She had an infectious smile, a kind and loving heart, beautiful laugh and joyful spirit. She was a perfect earthly example of selfless, unconditional love.
Pam was born Jan. 25, 1953, in Seattle, to Deane and Catherine (Reita) Cruze. She was the eldest of five children and grew up in Edmonds, where she graduated from Edmonds Senior High School in 1971. She immediately went to work for The Boeing Co. She worked for The Boeing Co. for 16 years and in the midst of those years, she was afforded the opportunity to marry and start a family. Her family was her pride and joy and eventually she was able to leave the corporate world to focus on raising her children.
She spent most of her life in Issaquah, where she resided for more than 35 years. She actively volunteered in the Issaquah School District for more than 25 years, where all five of her children attended Issaquah Valley Elementary, Issaquah Middle and Issaquah High schools. Pam had been a member of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Issaquah, since 1984, where she developed many close friendships, and considered her CPC family as a second family. For the past 10 years, she was an associate broker with RE/MAX Integrity in Issaquah, where she enjoyed helping friends and family buy and sell their homes.
Pam enjoyed music and loved to sing. She had the voice of an angel and participated in her church choir for many years. Her children were her life and the majority of her spare time was spent driving them to and from their many different sports and activities, cheering them on from the sidelines, organizing events as the PTA president or Team Mom, and encouraging them to follow their dreams.
She was preceded in death by her late husband Robert James Siems II in 1989, and her daughter Kyla Maree Siems in 1981.
Pam will be dearly missed by her husband of almost 25 years, Charles Ratcliffe; her daughters Kailee (and Tex) Blankenship and Kara (and Andy) Irvin; sons Justin Siems, Lyle Ratcliffe (and fiancé Julie Falsken) and Sean Ratcliffe; her beloved grandson Deklan Irvin; her parents Deane and Reita Cruze; her three brothers, Rande (and Celia) Cruze, Kerry (and Debrah) Cruze and Kevin (and Lora) Cruze; and her sister Laurie (and Howard) Knott; along with nieces, nephews, cousins, extended family, friends and many others who thought of Pam as their “second mom.”
A celebration of Pam’s life will take place on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014 at 11 a.m. at Covenant Presbyterian Church, 22116 S.E. 51st Place, Issaquah, WA 98029. All family and friends are invited to attend. Please sign the online guestbook at www.flintofts.com.
In lieu of flowers, please donate in Pam’s name to the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation, 9272 Jeronimo Road, Suite 122, Irvine, CA 92618, or at www.pcrf-kids.org or Northwest Infant Survival & SIDS Alliance (NISSA), 4949 Sunnyside Ave. N., No. 350, Seattle, WA 98103 or at www.nwsids.org.