As family and friends try to make sense of the death of Pam Dyer, the Sooke resident is being remembered as a loving grandmother, an avid gardener and an animal-lover who took in rescue dogs.
“It's hard. I know there's nothing I can do to change things,” said Kim Bond, Dyer’s step-daughter. Bond said the family is struggling to come to terms with what happened. “She’s been a part of our lives for about 30 years.”
Dyer, 64, was found dead in her home at 2227 French Rd. South on Sunday afternoon by a friend who went to check on her. Sooke RCMP and the Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit are investigating the suspected homicide, but no arrests have been made in connection with the death.
Sooke RCMP Staff Sgt. Jeff McArthur said he could not speak to the cause of death and that investigators had no suspects.
Dyer’s son, Michael McCormick, 36, has been arrested and charged with uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm in connection with text messages sent to his ex-girlfriend about her new boyfriend.
RCMP would not say whether McCormick is linked to Dyer’s death.
Bond and her brother Sean, their spouses and children spent many holidays at Dyer’s home. Their children would call Dyer “Grandma Pam.”
Dyer was married to Bond’s father, Dave Dyer, for almost 25 years. The couple married in September 1989.
Dave Dyer battled cancer for 10 years and his wife was there for him through every visit to the doctor and trip to the hospital, Bond said. She was always making sure he was taking his medication and taking care of his health.
“She was very supportive … and very understanding of his needs,” Bond said.
Dyer took it very hard when her husband died in 2013.
“After all the ‘firsts’ had gone by — birthdays, Christmas, anniversaries — she said it was a little easier,” Bond said.
Dyer would drive to Langford almost every weekend to spend time with her three grandchildren, McCormick’s children with his ex-wife.
“They were the world to her,” Bond said. They would make cookies together and Dyer would let them play on her husband’s guitar.
Members of the Royal Canadian Legion in Sooke, where Dyer tended bar for decades, have been hit hard by the loss.
Dyer also worked at Garden Works in Colwood and enjoyed toiling in her own garden. She would grow her own fruit and vegetables and use them to make preserves, pies and cakes, which she shared with family members.
Dyer loved to decorate and bake around Christmastime, and had recently started making homemade ice cream.
She was also a big supporter of Angels Under Our Wings, a cocker spaniel rescue organization, and adopted two dogs through the group.
She also had a cat and a 40-year-old macaw named Paco.
“She was very supportive of rescues,” said Lisa Atterby, the founder of Angels Under Our Wings.
“She was a lovely person. Really kind-hearted and very generous.”
