AIDS killed Pam Van Dyke's eldest son, Isaac Parkey. It happened in the mid-'80s, a time when people shunned AIDS patients for fear of catching the dreaded virus.

Back then, there weren't organizations such as H.O.P.E. (HIV Outreach Prevention Education, Inc.) to educate people about the virus. Van Dyke, a local traditional jazz singer, wishes there had been.

"It was kind of hard because everyone was really scared," Van Dyke said about the period leading up to her 30-year-old son's death in 1986 from pneumonia complicated by the AIDS virus. "Isaac was very quiet about it because there was no education in those days. I think people thought that if you were in the same room you possibly could get it.

"That's why I think education about the disease is so important because it's still dangerous," she continued. "It hasn't gone away and people need to know how to keep from getting it."

H.O.P.E. will raise money for AIDS education and testing Thursday night at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center's Chapman Music Hall during its Sisters in the Name of Love - Divas Reunited 2003 - Rockin for H.O.P.E. concert.

Van Dyke will sing three songs in her low voice that's reminiscent of Ella Fitzgerald, including Duke Ellington's "In a Mellow Tone," Leon Russell's "This Masquerade" and Nat King Cole's "Route 66."

She also will take the opportunity to talk about her son for the first time on stage.

"Isaac was very young, very talented and very vital. He really loved people and had a really gregarious personality," she said.

He was a singer like his mother. He had a memorable tenor voice, but when she thinks about him singing, her mind flashes back to when he was 14 and singing "I'll Be Home for Christmas" with his grandmother -- she also was his voice teacher -- accompanying him on piano.

"I remember that the most because it's the only thing I have a tape of him singing," she said.

Van Dyke also clearly remembers what life was like after her son returned from San Francisco, where Van Dyke said her son was infected with the virus.

"He came back to Tulsa and we were able to be together the last couple of years," she said.

Van Dyke is one of the many performers during the concert featuring the likes of the female-fronted rock band Ultrafix, Cindy Cain, Rebecca UNGERMAN, Rusti Love, The Oklahoma Indian Theater and Dance Company, Duecina, Dulphene, and the Women of Council Oaks.

The event will be emceed by Karen Keith.

The house band will include Jon Glazer on keyboards, Dennis Jackson on guitar, John Johnson on bass and David Parnell on the drums.