Woman in search for lost love
Published:
A WOMAN who wore purple hotpants to meet her sailor sweetheart is appealing for his Aberdeen pal to help find him – nearly 40 years on.
Pamela Allen is seeking the carpenter she knew as Joe Gibson, who wooed her when his boat docked in Auckland, New Zealand.
Although her one-time boyfriend was from Belfast, researchers have found his pal came from Aberdeen.
Billy McDowell was paired with Pamela’s late friend Sue Sinclair at the time, about 38 years ago.
Pamela, now 63, said: “There used to be these ships coming to New Zealand from Britain and my friend was going out with a carpenter, a Scottish guy, on the ship.
“I was invited to a party there and I met this lovely Irishman called Joe Gibson and we went together for about a year.
“It was a fleeting thing but it was one of those exciting things for me, being a Kiwi and never experiencing anything exciting like that.”
Part-time personal assistant Pamela, who was Pam Peterken then, said she would meet Joe at the bus station in her shorts before going for a coffee or a drink at the nearby Great Northern Hotel.
And the couple, both in their mid-20s at the time, even went on a 422-mile trip to Wellington together.
But the gran-of-five, who has been married and divorced since then, has wondered about her Irish sailor.
She said: “He was such a sweet person and it always stuck in my mind. I would love to find out what he’s doing, if he’s married, if he’s got kids.”
New Zealand television company Eyeworks, which features shows with people trying to be reunited with friends, has taken up the case.
Since then, an old crew list of the Otaio – a New Zealand Shipping Company vessel Joe was thought to have been part of – has been found.
It includes the name of a carpenter W McDowell who was born in Aberdeen and Pamela hopes it is the same Billy who courted her friend.
Other Aberdeen names on the 1970 list are Buchan and Stalker.
Readers' Comments
I hope Pamela does find Joe, if indeed he married, at least he should be easier to find, still having the same name. How many men have wanted to contact women, but do not know their married name? I imagine a whole lot of us also wonder what happened to past romantic encounters, myself included!
Linda J. McArtney
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