Lieutenant-Colonel Edgar Pam, O.B.E., died on December 20th, 1945, at his home at Virginia Water, Surrey, at the age of 63, after a long illness.
Col. Pam was educated at Harrow and received his professional training at the Royal School of Mines, from which he graduated in both mining and metallurgy in 1904. In November of that year he took up employment with Village Deep, Ltd., Johannesburg, first as assistant sampler and rising through the positions of assistant surveyor, chief sampler, chief surveyor, and shift boss to mine captain in May, 1909. During the rest of that year he studied collieries in the United Kingdom and hydraulic filling methods in Germany.
From 1910 to 1912 he was employed as assistant to the consulting engineer, Central Mining and Investment Corporation, Johannesburg, in charge of sand-filling operations at mines controlled by that group. In 1912 he was appointed sectional manager of Geldenhuis Deep, Ltd., a few months later becoming manager.
During the Great War he served first in the Royal Engineers (Tunnelling Companies) and later as Assistant Director General of Transportation, First Army and Army of the Rhine. He was mentioned in despatches and received the O.B.E. for his services.
He returned to Geldenhuis Deep in 1920 and later became manager of Modderfontein East. In 1928 Col. Pam returned to England to take up an appointment as consulting engineer to the Mond Nickel Co., Ltd. When that company merged with the International Nickel Co. of Canada, Ltd., in 1929, he was appointed assistant to the delegate director of the Mond Nickel Co., and became deputy delegate director in 1939. At the time of his death he was a director of the company.
Col. Pam was elected to Studentship of the Institution in 1903, was transferred to Associateship in 1912 and to Membership in 1915. He had been a Member of Council since 1934 and held the office of Vice-President for the two periods 1936-39 and 1942-44. He was elected President of the Institution for the Session 1944-45 and re-elected for a second year of office in 1945-46. His death in office was a severe loss to the Institution and especially to his colleagues on the Council, who had hoped to have the benefit of his wise guidance in the difficult post-war period.
Vol. 55, Trans I.M.M., 1945-6, p.575
