Deceased January 26, 2019
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In Memory
Gerry Palmer passed away after a protracted illness in January 2019. He was born and raised in New York City. He was a graduate of Groton School. At Amherst Jerry played on the freshman football team and he rowed on the Amherst Crew for three years, serving as captain in his senior year.
Following Amherst graduation, Gerry served four years in the U.S. Navy, first as an ensign and later as a lieutenant. His first assignment aboard a ship was performing hydrographic surveys off Thule, Greenland. After finishing the surveys, the ship performed escort service to freighter ships carrying heavy equipment to the site of the construction of a military airfield at Thule.
His next assignment was serving as a communications officer aboard a destroyer operating off the coast of Korea during the Korean War. He later wrote an article, “A hostile Place,” about his experiences in Korea. The article was published in a navy magazine named The Tin Can Sailor.
After his naval service, Jerry had a long career working in the investment business in Philadelphia. He served as president of the Philadelphia Securities Association and as a director of the Bond Club of Philadelphia.
Gerry was an active member of his Episcopal Church in Chestnut Hill. For many years he was the church’s treasurer of the Home for the Homeless Committee.
Gerry is survived by his wife of 55 years, Harriet Palmer; his daughter Mary Palmer Schultz, as well as by his grandsons, Matt and Nick Schultz. Gerry’s daughter describes her father as a talented musician. He played a variety of musical instruments, including bag pipes, fife, saxophone, clarinet and horn. She goes on to say that her father was “the kindest, most forgiving, most unselfish, humble and strongest man that I have ever known. He was a man of integrity and grit and taught me life’s most important lessons from a very young age.”
Andy Scholtz ’50