Pamela Olsen

Pamela May Olsen (Magginnis), 62, passed away on Tuesday morning, February 13, 2024..  Pamela was a beautiful soul who transformed everything she did into an art. An insatiably curious person, Pamela lived many lives as a classical vocalist, a gifted massage therapist, and as President of NY Toastmasters. 

Pamela was active at an early age, and loving softball, she excelled as a catcher at bringing the ball over the plate to try to trick the umpire, who often was her dad.  She put together a small jazz band in high school, playing trumpet at that time.  She then went to Indiana University, where she developed into a marvelous soprano with a wide range, allowing her to sing in the soprano and alto ranges.  Upon graduating from Indiana with both a Bachelor and Master of Music degree in Voice, Pamela held various jobs.  She was soprano soloist at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in NYC for a year (and sang Fauré’s Requiem with orchestra), alto section leader at Union Congregational Church in Montclair, NJ for fifteen years, and cantor at St. Anne’s Roman Catholic Church in Jersey City for two years.  At Union Church Pamela sang Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Bess in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, the Mother in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, Nedda in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, Tosca in Puccini’s Tosca, Sieglinde in Wagner’s Die Walküre, a Rhinemaiden in Das Rheingold, and in numerous other major works. 

Pamela also obtained an associate degree in Massage Therapy from the Swedish Institute College of Health Sciences in NYC.  She gave the Valedictorian speech at the Commencement of her class.  Pamela formed her own business, Olsen Reiki, Shiatsu, and Massage where she gave wonderful treatments to clients in both Manhattan and New Jersey.  Her business received 37 five-star reviews on Google.  Pamela was a caring healer who helped many people overcome issues with pain and tendonitis that limited their range of movement.  She also specialized in pregnancy massage.

Pamela was active at Toastmasters International, and President of New York Toastmasters for one year, and Vice President for three years.  She supervised the Board of Officers, increasing chapter membership from 45 to 95 members in one year, and successfully implemented a new mentoring program.  Pamela was an Executive Administrative Assistant stationed at Goldman Sachs in Jersey City, at SBLI Life Insurance in Newark, NJ, and at The BOC Group (now LINDE) in New Providence, NJ. 

Pamela regularly gave blood and helped at a church food kitchen.  She loved her cats, traveling, cycling, swimming, classic films, reading books on many topics, art museums, solar and lunar eclipses, cooking, The West Wing, Northern Exposure, Grace and Frankie, and learning to play the Middle Easter riq or frame drum and the hand drum.  Her latest plan was to sing Eric’s jazz versions of opera arias while drumming.  She had a ready laugh and enjoyed humor, especially her own.  She is dearly missed, as her passing was so sudden and premature.  She is survived by her husband Eric, her father John Magginnis, her sister Vicki Burnett, and her brother Tim Magginnis.

A Memorial Service/Concert commemorating the life of Pamela Olsen will be held on Saturday, May 11, 2024 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Alumni Theatre, 120 Bloomfield Avenue, in Caldwell, NJ, 07006. Please come and share in a celebration of her life.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Pamela Olsen, please visit our floral store.