Pamela Balash-Webber

Pamela "Pam" Sue Balash-Webber (1953-2020)[1] was an American diving instructor and ocean conservationist.[2][3]

She was born in Albion, Michigan, and lived most her life on Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. She had a sister.[1]

Balash-Webber worked for the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) organization for many years, and became a district course director in 1989. She was one of the first two American women to teach recreational diving in Russia.[2] With her husband, Andre, she owned and ran a diving club on Saint Thomas. They worked together to have moorings installed at dive sites in the United States Virgin Islands to protect the reefs from damage.[2][3]

Andre died in 2014, 54 years old.[4] Pamela died in late 2020, after having fought with scleroderma and rheumatoid arthritis for several years. They share an underwater memorial at Andres reef, near Buck Island.[1][2]

In 2022, she was one of five women to be inducted into the Women Divers Hall of Fame.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Pamela Sue Balash-Webber". The Virgin Islands Daily News. 9 January 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d Kirkpatrick, Sara (6 September 2021). "St. Thomas woman to be inducted into Women Divers Hall of Fame". The Virgin Islands Daily News. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  3. ^ a b "2022 Pamela Balash-Webber". WDHOF. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  4. ^ "Life of Andre Webber to be Celebrated Nov. 9". St. John Source. 23 September 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  5. ^ Helmu, Sam (31 August 2021). "Women Divers Hall Of Fame Announces Five New Inductees". www.deeperblue.com. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
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