Pam Evans, manager of Nichols Market in Eufaula for 26 years, found her calling early in life.

Grocery stores.

She’s been in the business for about 43 years.

Twenty-six as manager of the store in Eufaula, six or more as manager of a Nichols in Holdenville prior to coming here.

“It’s just my thing. I didn’t intend it when I started. I was in college, actually, but by then the grocery store sucked me in,” she said.

Pam was born in Cheyenne in Western Oklahoma but lived in a lot of places before settling down.

Her dad was a mechanic for John Deere.

“He changed jobs about every two years. I never stayed at one school more than two years,” she said.

Her first taste of the retail trade was as a teenager at a convenience store, then at Walmart for nine months.

Then came grocery stores, beginning at Best Yet in Seminole in 1980.

“Gary Nichols bought the store in 1988, and I came with the fixtures,” Pam said.” I had been there eight years and worked there four more years. Then (Nichols) bought a store in Holdenville and transferred me there. I was there for six years.”

Three of them as managers.

Then she transferred to the Eufaula store as manager.

The Eufaula store is the last one owned by Nichols.

She works for Gary’s son, Jeremy.

“It’s a great company to work for. They’ve been good to me,” she said.

Pam and her late husband, Dennis, raised two children, daughter Whitney Evans, a pharmacist at Walmart in Checotah, and Kodi Evans.

D ennis died of cancer Nov. 5, 2022, at the age of 64.

The couple had been together 39 years.

“We would have been married 40 years on the 28th of November,” Pam said.

When Pam isn’t working, she loves to travel – far and wide.

Took an Alaskan cruise last year. Recently went to Galveston, Texas, and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and New York City “My daughter likes to travel,” Pam said.

In all her years in retail, the biggest change she has seen is the work ethic.

“It’s hard to find people who want to work. People just don’t want to work anymore. Young kids we used to hire to sack groceries, can’t hardly find them anymore. They think they’re too important and need to make more money,” she said.