In addition to her work with the Lower 9th Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement and Develop­ment, Dashiell’s contributions to bettering New Orleans included a stint as president and board chair of the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association  and a founding member of Citizens Against Widening the Industrial Canal. She also had worked as a program coordinator for the Louisiana Bucket Brigade Holy Cross/Lower 9th Ward Initiative and worked as an adviser for the Gulf Coast Fund. She was a board member for a number of local organizations, including Smartgrowth Louis­iana, the Alliance for Affordable Energy and the National Center for Comm­unity Health Research.

The Roxbury, Massachusetts native who lived in the Holy Cross neighborhood in the Ninth Ward for the past two decades has been described by many who knew her as a tireless, unrelenting and no-nonsense community activist.

Louisiana Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu, who worked with Dashiell to find funding to rebuild homes in Holy Cross after Katrina, described her as “the embodiment of service and selflessness,” someone whose work had “helped rebuild Holy Cross and the Lower Ninth Ward (and) ... strengthened our entire city.”

 “Pam exemplified the very best of New Orleans,” the Neighborhoods Partnership Network said in a statement last week. “A compassionate and positive leader, Pam strove to realize equitable, just and healthy communities.

 “[She] was not only a leader in her neighborhood, but also shared her experiences with communities across New Orleans. As an NPN Fellow, Pam partnered with Barbara Lacen-Keller to teach 20 neighborhoods how to build partnerships for common goals.

 “Pam’s compassion, passion, knowledge and commitment will be deeply missed.”

Longtime friend and Global Green director Beth Galante, a longtime friend of Dashiell, told the local daily paper that one of the reasons Dashiell was able to accomplish a great deal was because she never did or said anything to offend or belittle  others, even when she clearly disagreed with them.

 “Even after Katrina, Pam never pushed other people,” Galante said. “She’d say, ‘Everybody needs to do what they need to do. But this is what I’m going to do. I’m going to fight for my community. I’m going to fight for my home. Because it’s worth it and it means the world to me.’”

Galante told the local daily paper that despite having to endure the same adversities and disappointments of others struggling to rebuild and recover in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Dashiell was still “eternally optimistic” about the city’s future. In a 2008 interview with the local daily paper, Dashiell said that “with the support of good people and the resilience of brave people, it seems like anything can be accomplished.”

Pam Dashiell is survived by a daughter, Alisa Leslie Dashiell-Sanchez of St. Louis, Mo., and a granddaughter.

A memorial tribute was held Friday evening at All Souls Episcopal Church, 5500 St. Claude Avenue. A funeral was held at All Souls on Saturday morning. Rhodes Funeral Home handled the arrangements.

This article was originally published in the December 10, 2009 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper