City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremation
Obituary
Pamela Jean Blomquist
Zebulon , North Carolina
Age 77.
Died 09/16/2021.
July 19, 1944 - September 16, 2021
Pamela Jean Blomquist of Zebulon, North Carolina passed away peacefully in hospice care on Thursday, September the 16th at the age of 77. Pam departed this world exactly at high noon, with her husband and her daughter at her side. In this time of Covid they were so blessed to be by Pam’s side through this part of her journey. She left hospice draped with the American flag, commemorating her time served in the United States Navy.
She began her path as a hair stylist in childhood with unconventional bang stylings for herself and her little sister, indelibly captured in photography, eventually leading her to beautician school after high school. Over the years she expertly cut her family's hair, as well as that of her friends, and often turned her expert hand to her own carefully styled hair. Eventually her then-teenage son insisted his then-teenage sister take over his styling when fashion and vanity outgrew Mom's skills. Her daughter continues the tradition with her own family.
Pam next found herself drawn to service in the Navy, where she met Jack. "I didn't like him at first," she often quipped, "but he grew on me, and then I fell madly in love with him."
Georgia Girl meets New York Boy, and like two intertwined trees, they grew together for 58 years.
Pam and Jack married young and lived their lives together in 5 different states. They proudly raised their son, Jack, and their daughter, Wendy, eventually calling North Carolina home.
She was an excellent list maker and note taker, teaching her daughter that even vacuuming could be written down and crossed off. She always wrote in a lovely southern cursive hand, which was not inherited by her children or her grandchildren. That magnificent “P” that looks like a Lima bean will always be the defining way of how one spells Pamela.
She enjoyed playing card games with friends and family, and unfortunately takes with her the mysterious rules of the game Double Solitaire, which she sometimes played with her daughter after school, if she wasn't beating her pants off at Gin Rummy.
Pam often fondly remembered summers spent with her beloved Aunt Myrt, and many a time spoke of their close bond. Their relationship gave Pam a solid loving foundation which graced her with the inner core that was needed to navigate a sometimes tumultuous upbringing, and also gave her the drive, confidence, and skillset to follow in her footsteps as a restaurateur.
Pam was an excellent Southern cook, often fondly remembering learning to cook from the time she could reach the stovetop while standing on a chair. She also learned to adapt when she married that boy from Long Island all those years ago, serving their family a wonderful mix of both Northern and Southern dishes. She made the best fried chicken ever, serving up her own recipe at her namesake restaurants, PJ’s Barbecue and Ribs, in Raleigh, which she owned for several years with her husband.
She dearly loved to sew, and also to both knit and crochet. As an expert seamstress she made many lovely and intricate clothes for her family and herself over the years, as well as beautiful items for their home and their camper. She passed that love of sewing, and of other needlework, on to her daughter. Pam truly had a natural eye for color and design. A bouquet of flowers never entered the home that wasn't transformed into an elegant display. She delighted in wrapping gift packages that were almost too beautiful to open, and decorating for Christmas. She enjoyed painting with both oils and acrylics on canvas, working with oil pastels, as well as decorative painting and many other crafts. She enjoyed sunbathing, trailer camping, and one of her greatest joys was relaxing around a campfire.
Pam gave Better Homes and Gardens stiff competition in the immaculate home department. We're pretty sure that if Heaven has a lobby, she made sure it was well-dusted and all the corners were vacuumed before she could allow herself to relax among the clouds.
Pam was predeceased by her son, Jack. She is survived by her loving husband Jack, her daughter Wendy and her husband Ken, three grandsons, her sister Pat and her husband Tommy, her sister-in-law Marge and her husband Joe, her brother-in-law Brian and his wife Nancy.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to a charity which you feel is making this world a better place.
For additional information or for service details, please reach out to the family directly.
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City of Oaks Cremation and Funeral Home is a full-service funeral home in Raleigh, serving all of North Carolina and beyond. We provide an alternative to costly funeral homes and every day we help families in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and all over North Carolina make simple, affordable funeral arrangements.
Simply having to reach out to a funeral home can feel overwhelming. Our goal is to simplify the entire funeral home experience and make the process as easy as possible. We hope to eliminate any unnecessary surprises by publishing our total cost and the services we provide directly on our website. All of our obituaries are provided free of charge as a way to help families celebrate and commemorate the lives of their loved ones.
Our Promise
Apples to Apples
Just like all other licensed funeral homes in North Carolina, City of Oaks Cremation, LLC is regulated by the NC Board of Funeral Service.
The same laws that apply to the big corporate funeral homes also apply to the modest independently owned firms like ours. All crematories in North Carolina, regardless of who owns them, are inspected annually by the state and must adhere to the same rules and laws.
Genuine Care
We're committed to providing families within our community unsurpassed service before, during and after the time of loss.
Our staff will provide clear communication to your family through each step as we move forward from the original phone call notifying us of a death to the time we deliver the urn back to your family. We will treat your family with the utmost respect, as we honor the wishes of your loved one.
We promise to make this process affordable and as endurable as possible.
State Wide
Our Funeral Home is located in Wake County NC; however, we provide our services to families throughout the entire State.
Unlike other funeral homes, we don't charge an additional mileage fee. Regardless of what county you live in, we can help your family with making simple, affordable funeral arrangements. From Asheville to Wilmington, we're proud to help families statewide.
Our Services
$1196.75
Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. We include everything you need for a simple or direct cremation. Simple, affordable and reliable. We have not changed the cost of our direct cremation service since we opened City of Oaks in 2012.
$2875.66
We offer the option of choosing how you receive your loved ones remains. Selecting our Direct Cremation with Solidified Remains option is a beautiful way to transform cremated remains into 40-60 “stones” that you can hold.
$1917.84
City of Oaks Funeral Home and Cremation provides an affordable cremation option with onsite visitation. Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. Simple, affordable and reliable.
$2497.50
An immediate burial has the same end result as a traditional burial; however, we have eliminated the extra (sometimes unnecessary) services prior to getting to the cemetery. Not everyone wants an open casket for viewing or a limousine for the family. Despite the term immediate, we can move as fast as you need or as slow as you like. This option simply allows you to save money by eliminating some of the fancy extras at the funeral home.
$6081.48
We offer the same traditional funeral services as the big corporately owned funeral homes in the area; however, we cost about half the amount. You might consider a traditional funeral service if your family is looking for an open casket visitation, a traditional church service or a funeral service in the funeral home's chapel. A traditional funeral service can be altered to fit the needs of your family.
$3033.75
This establishment is one of a select number of funeral homes who meet the criteria for providing green funeral service by the Green Burial Council; a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization working to encourage environmentally sustainability in the field of funeral service. Our Green options allow for a funeral to take place without the use of toxic and non-biodegradable materials/chemicals.
$2640.59
As an alternative to traditional cremation, City of Oaks Funeral Home also offers Aquamation. The Aquamation process, often referred to as alkaline hydrolysis, uses a solution of water and potassium hydroxide to facilitate natural decomposition.