By Katie McKellar | Senior Reporter
She was known as “Utah’s Mother Teresa,” and yet she hated being called that.
Speakers during Pamela Atkinson’s funeral said she was frustrated by that title because it painted her as someone rare and remarkable, yet she insisted that anyone — through small acts of kindness — could do what she did.
In this weekend’s Dispatch we report on the funeral service that honored Utah’s longtime champion for the homeless and bring you our top stories of the week, including former Utah Supreme Court Justice Diana Hagen’s message to voters and Utah’s criminal charges against Kalshi.
“For more than 20 years, she served as an adviser and confidant to Utah’s most powerful politicians. And for longer than that she served as an angel to thousands of Utah’s most vulnerable.” — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox during Pamela Atkinson’s funeral on her legacy of helping Utah’s homeless
Pamela Atkinson, a longtime advocate for people experiencing homelessness in Utah, is honored at the Utah Capitol in Salt Lake City after Gov. Spencer Cox declared Pamela Atkinson Day on Feb. 24, 2023. (Photo courtesy of the Utah Governor’s Office)
By Katie McKellar
A church full of people honored Pamela Atkinson’s memory during her funeral — a crowd that included Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and other prominent dignitaries.
Cox and other speakers told numerous stories of her care for Utah’s most vulnerable and her more than two decades advising four of Utah’s governors. She was remembered as a pillar in Utah’s homeless and humanitarian community who was as politically savvy and influential as she was selfless.
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