Alima Hamilton | Obit

Alima Pat Hamilton

January 17, 1941- May 13, 2026

Alima Pat Hamilton, of Redmond, WA, born Patricia Ann Nugent on January 17, 1941 (85) in Pocatello, Idaho, crossed over on May 13, 2026, of natural causes.

An only child, daughter of Lowell and Maxine (Taylor) Nugent, she grew up in Idaho and graduated from Boise’s Borah High School, class of 1959. She completed a Bachelor of Science at the University of Colorado in 1963, where she was a proud member of Gamma Phi Beta. Alima maintained her ties to this sorority throughout her life, being repeatedly honored as a mentor and donor. During the mid to late 60s Alima participated in the women’s liberation movement, at a time when NOW (the National Organization for Women) bussed students and housewives from small towns all over rural areas in the US to metropolitan centers where they were able to receive political education, participate in sit-ins, and fight for women’s rights. Many years later, Alima would point out that fighting for women’s rights led to a chain reaction resulting in men getting more rights too.

Alima’s professional career began at the community pool. A competitive swimmer and water ballerina, she became a lifeguard for the Idaho Falls YMCA, and the aquatics director 1975-78. She championed their swim program which brought her to teach swimming, lifeguarding, CPR and First Aid.

She returned to school with 3 children at home, became a substitute teacher, and finished a Master of Arts in Education from Idaho State University. She then worked as a school counselor as she continued to complete a Phd at Columbia Pacific University. She then went on to become an Educational Examiner. She was a member of the National Association of School Psychologists, a Licensed counselor in Idaho, and became a licensed Hypnotherapist in 1985. She applied the principles of hypnosis to help her swimmers excel and break records.

Alima was a fiercely independent, creative, and driven woman who loved learning and found her life’s calling in helping others heal and grow. She continued her education at Barbara Brennan School of Healing, graduating with a 4-year Professional Studies diploma in 1994. She followed this with programs and certifications in Core Energetics, Craniosacral Therapy, Herbalism, Siberian Shamanism, and Toning. She was an avid reader of spiritual materials. She spent over 30 years studying with Pathwork, Builders of the Adytum (B.O.T.A.), and The Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis (AMORC).

Alima had an entrepreneurial spirit, and she found her calling. She combined her counseling practice, hypnotherapy, her work with Barbara Brennan, and decades of deep spiritual study to create The Northwest School of Healing (NWSH) in Redmond, Washington. Over the course of two decades, through this four-year healership program, she fostered the psychological, spiritual, and intuitive development of one hundred+ students through hands-on earth energy work, until the school’s closing in 2012. She taught students to recognize and embrace their own uniqueness, think independently, and embrace deep healing and mystery.

It is often, as Alima would remind us, that our own life experience drives us towards healing work. And Alima was no exception. While suffering from Fibromyalgia and Hashimoto’s disease, she was driven to find relief. She succeeded in doing so through alternative therapies and energy healing, as solutions to problems that doctors couldn’t solve at that time. Late in life, she would joke that she lived past her expiration date.

In Alima’s spare time, she was an avid crafter, specializing in intricate beadwork, porcelain painting, and drum making, just to name a few hobbies. She crafted elaborate certificates and ceremonies for NWSH. She participated in Sufi dancing, and was given the name Alima by the Sufis, which she felt reflected her spiritual identity as a teacher. She was also a world traveler, and visited Egypt on an exclusive trip through the catacombs.

Alima will be forever missed by her students and loved ones. Her teachings will be practiced and passed on, through the lives of everyone she mentored and knew.

The legacy and curriculum of NWSH is being carried forth to the next generation, under the tutelage of Chelsea Anne LMT, ‘05 NWSH graduate and school dean, in Sequim, Washington.

Alima is survived by her three sons, Michael, Christopher, and Patrick Hamilton as well as her three grandchildren Sarah Taylor, Amber Chipman, and Zachary Hamilton. And three great grandchildren. She is preceded in passing by her parents, and her cousin Roger. All of whom she loved deeply.

* Alima’s memorial (graduation ceremony from the Earth plane) will be held at a private residence in Redmond WA on July 26, 2026. For further details, contact Chelsea Anne at 206-659-9578. Attendance is limited, but please light a candle on this day, and be there with us in spirit.

* Charitable Contributions: In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Gamma Phi Beta, Barbara Brennan School of Healing, or B.O.T.A.