It is with great sadness, but also relief, to announce the peaceful passing of our mother, Pamela Sue McElheney on May 24th, 2022. While it is never easy to let go of the person that gave us life and showed us how to love, Chris and I take great comfort that we were able to help take care of her as her health declined these last few years. It was truly a gift we will cherish forever: to honor her bringing us into this world by helping her with her transition and exit out.

Our mother was born May 20, 1947 to Lavonne and John Nuding, but her closer paternal relationship and influence was with Lavonne’s second husband Roy Calabrese. She was the younger sister to Larry, who she loved very much, and was so happy to get to see one last time this past Christmas.

Mom started out on a fairly traditional path in life (especially for the time), graduating from Bowsher High School, going to secretarial school, getting married and starting a family. Once both kids were in school, she took a temporary secretarial job covering for a friend’s maternity leave that ended up leading to her lifetime career in the steel business. Mom loved to learn, and each new position taught her about the inner workings of the steel processing business. That knowledge helped her advance and excel at sales and customer service, creating a loyal list of clients and colleagues she worked with for over 40+ years. She gave us a great example as a working woman, but also as a woman working in a male dominated profession. She talked later in life about the important role Billy Ciralsky played as a mentor, helping support her journey in professional development.

But mom’s big love in life (after family and friends) was her love of German Shepherd dogs. It was early on in her second marriage that she was introduced to the breed, and began breeding and showing German Shepherds for 45 years. That outlet filled Mom with all sorts of travel, joys, and close friendships she cherished, but also the ultimate honor of having her beloved “Rumor” win a pinnacle competition, taking Best in Show at Westminster Kennel Club dog show in 2017.

Her final gift to the world was donating her body to the University of Toledo Medical Center so that it might help others learn more about the rare lung disorder she was afflicted with, and its effect on the body. Since there will be no showing, we are going to wait until after we get the estate settled and transitioned before scheduling a memorial service. Please email lockenhaus.kennels@gmail.com to be updated when we schedule that celebration.

As a final thought, words cannot express the gratitude our family has for the staff at Hospice of NW Ohio in also helping to care for mom over the past year of her life. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to them, and/or one of the other charities mom supported: The Ability Center of NW Ohio, NW Ohio Food Bank, and The German Shepherd Dog Club of America Charitable Trust.

She is survived by son Christopher Lerch, daughter Rachelle Lerch, brother Larry Nuding (Tulsa, OK), nieces Erica Nuding and Ann-Nicole Nuding (Tulsa, OK), cousins Terry Revnak (Redding, CA) and Nancy Ford (Canyon Lake, CA), and special friend Tim Krego, among many other friends who she loved, and are grieving her loss. Thank you to everyone for the love and support you have shared with us during this time.

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