Pamela P. Orchard, of Milton, Massachusetts, died unexpectedly on July 26, 2022, of sudden cardiac failure. She was 75.

Pam had been a resident of Milton for 43 years at the time of her death, living in the same Canton Avenue house near Lower Mills that she and her husband of 52 years, Rob, purchased in 1979 — where the two of them raised their family.

Pam was born on June 22, 1947, in Ithaca, New York. She was the daughter of Dale B. Pritchard, a practicing ophthalmologist who was on the faculty at Cornell University, and Bevalie Cone Pritchard, a proud Vermonter whose family roots in New England reached back to the Mayflower. Pam grew up and went to high school in Ithaca, learning to sail on Cayuga Lake.

She attended Middlebury College, where she majored in economics and was a member of the Mischords a cappella singing group. She and Rob met at Middlebury, and they both graduated in 1969 and were married that same year.

As young adults in the 1970s, Pam and Rob lived in the New Haven area of Connecticut. Pam worked as a research assistant in a laboratory at Yale, studying phosphorescence. She often joked that her job was to crush up lightning bugs, but the experience speaks to a precise mind and love of science that she carried throughout life.

During this time, Pam and Rob enjoyed sailing on Long Island Sound, often cruising the New England coast with friends and visiting places like Block Island. They bought a 23-foot sailboat, Colley Cibber (named after an 18th century British poet laureate), which the family still owns and sails out of Squantum Yacht Club in Quincy. The family shares four decades’ worth of fond memories sailing on various boats in and around Falmouth, Massachusetts, particularly out of Waquoit Bay, with journeys to Edgartown, Cuttyhunk, Nantucket and elsewhere.

Upon her death, one of Pam’s closest friends, Mary Wendell, described her as a “Renaissance woman.” In 1977 she earned a master’s degree in interior design from University of Connecticut, focusing on the structural elements of design.

Later that same year she gave birth to her first child, Chris. When he was 1, the young family moved from Guilford, Connecticut, to Milton, following Rob’s career in theater management.

Pam gave birth to her second child, Kate, in 1981. When the children were young, Pam worked part time at the Little Book Room, a beloved children’s bookstore. During this time, Pam developed a love of children’s literature, and throughout life she believed in the power of books and reading.

In the late 1980s she decided to earn a master’s degree in early childhood education from Wheelock College, and in 1990 she began teaching at Belmont Day School in Belmont, Massachusetts, where she worked for 20 years, retiring in 2010.

For most of her career at BDS she was a fourth-grade teacher. Around the time the school grew to include middle school, she reimagined and expanded its woodworking program. Under the curriculum she developed, woodworking became a rigorous learning experience for students: an opportunity to imagine, plan and execute challenging projects; to make practical use of math and science; and to feel the sense of accomplishment that comes from completing something tangible. She believed that basic woodworking skills are intrinsically valuable, that young people — whose lives had become more and more intertwined with computer screens and regimented schedules — should experience the satisfaction of building things with their hands and be comfortable using hammers, saws, rasps, planes, and other tools.

She enjoyed improving her own woodworking skills, as well, and she took numerous courses at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education and the Wooden Boat School (in Brooklin, Maine).

As a fourth-grade teacher, she devoted extraordinary time and attention to each individual in her classroom, often staying up until 3 or 4 a.m. to write thoughtful, bespoke reports about them. She saved schoolwork from every child, filling up the attic of her Milton home, in case one of her former students should ever need a recommendation. She would have their original work to refer to.

She commuted every day from Milton to Belmont — during a career that coincided almost exactly with the Big Dig in Boston. For 20 years Pam woke up before 6 a.m. to make the journey, driving her standard transmission Volvo 240 station wagon with a level of assertiveness and speed that no doubt surprised her fellow commuters. Even after she switched to an automatic-transmission, driving with her along the Jamaicaway could be a hold-your-bladder experience.

Pam wrote in crisp, bold capital letters — the handwriting of someone who could produce floor plans and elevations. Toward the end of her life, she enjoyed sending letters, postcards and books to her grandson, Jack, who opened each piece of mail with glee.

Pam loved singing and music. Some of her favorite groups were the Beatles and The Momas & the Papas. She found humor in every corner of the human experience and could always be depended upon to bring laughter to any room. She was particularly fond of the Calvin and Hobbes and Far Side comic strips, along with The Simpsons TV show.

She was an excellent and adventurous cook, always seeking new recipes and techniques. Though in theory she appreciated someone else doing the dishes, in practice such help made her anxious: No one loaded the dishwasher with the same level of spatial reasoning she was able to achieve.

Once they were both in retirement, Pam and Rob spent time in the winter in Vero Beach, Florida.

Above all, Pam will be remembered for her complete devotion to her family and her insistence on putting their needs before hers, sometimes traveling across oceans on hours’ notice to lend a helping hand, as when Jack was born in London.

She is survived by her husband, Robert J. Orchard; her son, Christopher B. Orchard (married to Jessica Szubart), of Medford, Massachusetts; her daughter, Katherine H. Orchard, of Boston; her grandson, Jack L. Orchard, of Medford, Massachusetts; her brother, Jeffrey C. Pritchard, of Mystic, Connecticut; and her brother, Alan B. Pritchard, of Milford, Connecticut.

Please join the Orchard family in celebrating Pam’s life during visiting hours on August 16, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., at Dolan Funeral Home, 460 Granite Ave., EAST MILTON SQUARE. The family will be holding a private burial at Milton Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a gift to Arts Emerson or WBUR, which Pam listened to every day.