A St. John’s College of Professional Studies Assistant Dean died on Jan. 12 after succumbing to a rare and deadly disease.

Pamela Dalton, 55, died of progressive multifocal leukoencephalitis (PML), an uncommon illness that affects the brain.

A funeral service was held Jan. 15 at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Queens Village.

According to her colleagues, Dalton was not diagnosed by doctors with PML until a few days before she died.

She is survived by her husband, Jim, and two daughters.
“Dean Dalton was an absolutely outstanding advising dean,” said Kathleen Voute MacDonald, dean for the College of Professional Studies. “We are all deeply saddened by her passing.”

Aside from working in CPS, Dalton spent almost 20 years as an employee of St. John’s. She also worked in the Dean’s Office at the Peter J. Tobin College of Business and the Registrar’s Office.

“She was small in stature but she had a big heart,” said Ann Marie Ruzicka, an assistant dean for CPS. “She was great with students, she fought fiercely to get them into classes they needed and was very devoted to them.”

Ruzicka, who worked with Dalton for six years, called her “a good friend.”

“She was a good person, a very strong women and she is terribly missed,” said Ruzicka.

Dalton’s passing comes two months after Mary C. Daly, Esq., dean of the St. John’s School of Law died from cancer.