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������ mourns passing of Pam Frese, professor of sociology and anthropology

Pam Frese, professor of sociology and anthropology at ������, passed away on May 4, 2026, in ������, Ohio. Joining the faculty in 1986, she served the College community for 40 years as a colleague, mentor, teacher, and inspiration.

Widely known for her expertise on Anglo-American life cycle rituals and American religious holidays and traditions, Frese taught students on topics such as religion and symbolic anthropology, contemporary American society, food and cultures, and gender studies. She appreciated ������ for its interdisciplinary atmosphere and the rich interactions with colleagues across campus it brought to her work as an anthropologist.

Coming to the College and the first anthropologist and woman in the now sociology and anthropology department in 1986, Frese helped to establish the discipline to incorporate biological anthropology, archaeology, cultural, and linguistic anthropology. Christa Craven, her colleague in anthropology noted her “extraordinary spirit” and how she encouraged those around her to “re-evaluate and engage with cultural norms and everyday rituals in unique and complex ways.”

In addition to performance rituals, civil religious holidays, and traditions, Frese’s book publications and research extended to gender roles in shaping cultural ideology and social interaction, ethnographic research into U.S. Military culture and its impact in the 21^st century, the wives of retired military officers, gated retirement communities, the police, and Neopagan religions. She also actively engaged with the local and academic communities including the NAACP, American Anthropological Association, Central States Anthropological Society, Society for Feminist Anthropology, American Ethnological Society, and Society for Humanistic Anthropology. She was widely quoted in national media outlets including the History Channel, The New York Times, USA Today and The Los Angeles Times, and she appeared on CNN and multiple radio talk shows. Frese completed her undergraduate work at University of Maryland and earned her Ph.D. in anthropology at University of Virginia, including fieldwork studying American Wedding Rituals, attending 76 weddings, working as a photographer, and interviewing participants.

In her teaching, Frese emphasized the value of that same ethnographic research for the ways it allows researchers to “look at the world through other people’s eyes and using their words” as she once told students at the annual Hochhauser Alumni Panel, according to an article of The ������ Voice published about the event in February 2020. Lisa Hochhauser ’89, who Frese mentored for Independent Study, established the event series as part of a gift to the College to support bringing alumni who incorporate ethnographic methods into their work back to campus. Her most recent publication in performative anthropology incorporated studies on ethnographic performance in the classroom, tying her research to the ways she incorporated experiential learning for her students, allowing them to experience cultural traditions and rituals as observers and participants. A graduate of ������ Citizen’s Police Academy, Frese brought local police officers to her classes to talk about their role, providing an opportunity for officers and students to hear each other’s perspectives. Her classes connected with people in the greater community as guest speakers and through dinners with local NAACP members, a Great Mohican Pow Wow, Amish auctions, and further exploring different cultural traditions.

Members of the community honored Frese, who started a tradition to celebrate the Day of the Dead on campus as part of her Contemporary U.S. Culture and People and Cultures of Latin America class, with an altar near her office honoring her legacy.

A favorite of her classes for her and many of her students, Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion, studied cultural beliefs in the sacred, including practices from myths and rituals to magic and shamanism. The cross-cultural course brought speakers from different worldviews and examined the role that the study of religion, magic, and witchcraft has played the theoretical development of anthropology. A tradition for more than 30 years, Frese and students from her Contemporary U.S. Culture and People and Cultures of Latin America classes constructed a Day of the Dead Altar in Old Main of Kauke Hall each fall to celebrate and honor those lost. The students create a skull in honor of a deceased family member, close friend, deceased pet, or even a famous person they admire. The skull, their picture, and an object or food that was important to the deceased become an “ofrenda” or offering for the altar to welcome their spirit into the afterlife. After Frese’s passing a similar altar near her office allowed students and members of the community to honor the tradition by leaving offerings to honor her legacy.

A first-generation college student herself, Frese avidly supported the First-Generation Student Organization on campus, served on the College’s conduct board, and was involved with other student organizations, as a trusted mentor, friend, and advocate for students. Frese’s husband Simon Gray previously served as a professor of computer science at the College and is now a senior program director with the Global Liberal Arts Alliance. They have two children who graduated from ������: James Gray ’10 in English and Selena Draper ’12 in theatre and dance.

A public celebration of life will be held at The Connection, 1034 Country Club Drive in ������ from 2 to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, May 12, and .

Posted in News on May 8, 2026.