Former SEMO mass media chair Pam Parry dies at age 62

Pam Parry, professor and former chairwoman of the Southeast Missouri State University Department of Mass Media, was reported to have died earlier this week at age 62.

The university announced to students and faculty that it learned of her death Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 4. While Parry’s cause of death is unknown at this time, family members said she died in her sleep. She was described as well-loved by her students for her friendliness and passion for her work.

“Dr. Parry was a wonderful addition to the Southeast Missouri State University community,” the campus update said, “and she has left a void that will be difficult to fill.”

Parry was hired as SEMO’s Mass Media Department chairwoman and public relations professor in 2017. Her experience as an educator spanned two decades at three different institutions.

In addition to her career in academia, Parry was the former editor of Journalism History, the United States’ oldest peer-reviewed journal of mass media history. She covered the White House and the United States Supreme Court as a journalist and was a recipient of the national teaching award from the Small Programs Interest Group within the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. She also was a national scholar on diversity, presidential communications and gender studies.

Parry’s visitation will be from 10 a.m. to noon Friday, Feb. 14, at Ford and Sons Funeral Home, 10001 N. Mount Auburn Road, in Cape Girardeau. The funeral service will begin after the visitation is complete and she will be buried at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 15, at Rolla City Cemetery, 510 S. Rolla St., in Rolla.