January 11, 1963 – April 11, 2025
Pam Martin Wells, 62, of Bainbridge, passed away Friday, April 11, 2025.
The funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, at Mt. Zion Baptist Church with Rev. Stanley Phillips and Rev. Robert Johns officiating. Interment will follow at Mt. Zion Baptist Church Cemetery with Emmanuel University Bass Fishing Team serving as active pallbearers. Lance White, Shon White, Mickey Martin, Jeff Napier, Dillon Driver, Mason Sims, and Richard Lane will serve as honorary pallbearers.
The family will receive friends from 6:00 until 7:00 p.m. on Monday, April 14, 2025, at Bryant Funeral Home. Online visitors may sign the guest register at www.bryantfuneralga.com. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Emmanuel University Fishing Bass Fishing Team, 181 Spring St. Franklin Springs, GA 30639. https://mymane.ec.edu/ecart/donatelions.asp
Pamela Elaine Martin was born January 11, 1963, in Bainbridge, GA, the daughter of Jimmie & Pat White Martin. She was an honor graduate of Bainbridge High School, Class of 1981. Pam spent her life on the water, living her dream of being a professional angler. Four years ago, she and Steven moved to north Georgia where she found a new passion, coaching young anglers at Emmanuel University. Pam was a member of Southwest Baptist Church.
Talent, passion, and grit. That really says it all. Pam leaves a legacy of dreaming big dreams and working until fruition. She has been described as focused, diligent, inspiring, and encouraging. Pam was dubbed by our community, and later by those all over the country, as G.O.A.T., and she is regarded as one of the greatest female anglers in history. She would argue that she wasn’t the greatest, but she did give it all she had. And Pam meant giving all she had to everything she did, including teaching, coaching, building, playing, fishing, and anything else she put her mind to.
She was recognized as Professional Fisherman or Angler of The Year ten or so times, held 32 individual national titles, and was inducted into the Legends of the Outdoors Hall of Fame. Pam was nominated twice to the Pro Bass Fishing Hall of Fame but surprisingly never voted in. (Back then no one wanted to be beaten by a girl.) Later, she was the initial inductee to the Women’s Pro Bass Fishing Hall of Fame.
Her love for the outdoors spanned from the mountains to the bay. She hiked, hunted, scalloped, fished for trout & redfish, and enjoyed every moment of wide-open spaces. Pam had a dry sense of humor and tell-it-like-it-is attitude. She lived to inspire young people, especially females, to discover the outdoors on their own terms and supported their efforts with unmatched fortitude. Indeed we have said “See ya later” to a legend, but oh what a legacy…beyond the boat.
Survivors include her husband of almost 23 years, Steven P. Wells; her children, Brock Wells and Bailey Wells Driver (Dillon); her grandchildren, Beckham, Briggs, and Banks; and her dog (who doesn’t really know she is a dog), Coosa. In addition to her parents, Pam was preceded in death by her sister, Bobbie Barfield.
Bryant Funeral Home, located at 105 N. Florida Street, is assisting the family with arrangements. (229-246-3321)
