Pamela Jean Ybarra

Pamela Jean Ybarra, age 78, passed away on the morning of August 7, 2025, following a brief hospital stay with a diagnosis of rapid-onset dementia and ongoing hospice care at home through Hopewest. We were blessed to have had the past 6 months with her.

Born July 8, 1947, in Grand Junction, CO. She was the daughter of the late Walter Troy and Elsie Ruth Fletcher. She grew up on the Western Slope of Colorado, surrounded by both sides of her family. Pamela was extremely proud of the fact that her family was some of the early pioneers who helped found the town of Olathe, CO. Church Street is named in honor of her great-grandparents, who once lived in their tent next to Chief Ouray and Chipeta’s teepee.

Pamela was primarily a homemaker but had various jobs throughout her lifetime, one of note was S & S Bindery in Arizona, where she met and worked with her future husband, Leoncio. If you asked her, was it love at first sight, she’d say “No, it was not. I did not like him. We were like cats and dogs.”  As you can guess, they did learn to like each other in time and were married on March 2, 1982. Pamela’s oldest children, Bobby and Teresa, served as witnesses at the courthouse. Margarita was just a few weeks away from turning one. As Leoncio put it, he figured they’d better make it legal. Pamela & Leoncio shared their story of how they met with her Hospice nurse, Catherine, and CNA, Jamie, less than a week before her passing.

Pamela was one of the kindest people you would ever have the privilege to meet, and she always greeted everyone with a smile. To her, the most important things in life were her relationship with God, her family, and doing what she could to help others. She was a longtime member of the New Hope Pentecostal Church of God in Naturita, CO., and when they moved to Grand Junction, CO., they attended True Life Church (PCG), until her dementia made it impossible to leave the house.

Pamela is preceded in death by her parents, W. Troy and E. Ruth Fletcher, her brother Larry Fletcher, her sister Abigail Blackburn, and one grandchild. She is survived by her husband and caregiver Leoncio Ybarra, her son Bobby Warren, her daughters Teresa Fry and Margarita Ybarra, her stepson Israel Burkholder, 14 grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren.

A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to Hopewest. We will be forever grateful to their Home Hospice Care and all they did to help Pamela feel comfortable in the last 6 months of her life.