Pamela W. McKee, 55, labor lawyer

Pamela W. McKee, 55, a lawyer for the U.S. Department of Labor in Philadelphia and Los Angeles who surrounded herself with lifelong friendships, died Friday of ovarian cancer in Verdugo Hills Hospital in Glendale, Calif. Ms. McKee lived in Philadelphia before moving to La Cañada, Calif., in 2001.

Ms. McKee became an associate regional solicitor for the Department of Labor in Philadelphia in 1991. She enforced laws governing minimum wage, overtime, workplace safety, and the security of employee pensions and retirement savings. Starting in 2001, she ran the agency's legal office in Los Angeles.

Born in 1953 in New York City, the daughter of television actress and dancer Joan Holloway, Ms. McKee graduated from the elite girls Nightingale-Bamford School in Manhattan. She earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Johns Hopkins University in 1975 – the school's first class to include women.

Inspired by her stepfather, who was a lawyer, Ms. McKee earned a law degree in 1979 from the University of Colorado in Boulder before practicing law in Denver for several years.

In 1982, Ms. McKee moved to Philadelphia, where she put her strong communication and analytical skills to work as a pro se law clerk for the U.S. District Court, advising judges on how to rule in lawsuits filed by people serving as their own attorneys. Such plaintiffs are often prisoners protesting the validity of guilty verdicts and prison conditions. Ms. McKee became an expert in that area of law.

She married Marc Duvoisin, a former reporter and editor at The Inquirer, in 1983. When he became a foreign correspondent for the paper in 1986, the couple moved to Egypt. Ms. McKee had a part-time legal practice assisting American companies with interests in the Middle East. She also was a volunteer for the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, interviewing political detainees and monitoring their treatment.

Ms. McKee returned to Philadelphia in 1990 and became a staff lawyer with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, again specializing in pro se petitions. In 1991, she went to work for the U.S. Labor Department Office of the Solicitor in Philadelphia. She and her husband lived at various times in South Philadelphia, Center City, West Philadelphia and Ardmore. In 1992 their son, Alexander, was born. He is now 16.

"Pam had great energy. When you became her friend, you were a part of the circle of her life. She had friends dating back to when she was 2 years old," Duvoisin said. "She kept a file by month of friends' birthdays. Over the years, this grew to 30 or 40 people a month. She sent cards, presents, or at least a phone call on each friend's birthday."

In 2001, Ms. McKee and her family moved to La Cañada, Calif., where she became assistant regional solicitor for the Labor Department in Los Angeles. She was later promoted to associate regional solicitor.

In addition to her husband and son, Ms. McKee is survived by her mother, Joan Holloway Russell; her stepfather, Richard L. Russell; a sister; and two brothers.

A memorial service will be held Sept. 13 in Altadena, Calif. Donations may be sent to the Roy and Patricia Disney Cancer Center Endowment Fund at the Providence St. Joseph Foundation, 501 S. Buena Vista St., Burbank, Calif. 91505.