Pamela (Mulhern) Barch

Pamela M. Barch, the head of the Ludlow High School Art department and a long-time art teacher in the Ludlow school system, died September 29th in Springfield with her family at her side after a long battle with cancer. She was 52.

A warm and loving spirit, Pamela was a person who cultivated new friendships of wonderfully diverse people while treasuring and maintaining old acquaintances. She admired and later became friends with her Ludlow High School art teacher, Bernard Burns, and was particularly proud when she was later appointed to his position in the school after he retired.

Born in Worcester, Pamela Marie (Mulhern) Barch was a 1976 graduate of Ludlow High School. She graduated from Berkshire Community College in 1978 and was a 1981 summa cum laude graduate of the University of Massachusetts. Before joining the staff at Ludlow High School in 2002, she taught art at Veterans Park and East Street elementary schools, where she initiated after-school programs both at the school and in the community.

At Ludlow High School she was known as the consummate art teacher with ceramics her specialty. She showcased student work through exhibits and demonstrations, and was involved with the Agriculture in the Classroom program in which area teachers who taught agriculture were given lessons on using organic and natural items in a creative, artistic way.

She was a member of the Ludlow Education Association, the Mass Teachers Association and the Massachusetts Art Educators Association. She was appointed the Curriculum and Instructional Leader of the Art department in 2009.

A resident of Ludlow, she is survived by her husband of 25 years Brian Barch, and her sons Kyle, 23 and Ryan, 21. Also, her parents, John and Natalee Mulhern of Ludlow, a brother Devin and his husband Glenn of Marlborough MA; a brother Paul and his wife Lynn of Dracut, MA, and a sister, Anita Chmura and her husband Jeff of Chicopee, along with several nieces and nephews and one grand nephew.

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