Donald Wayne Palmer 1921 - 2004

PALMER, FARRAR, RILEY

Posted By: Connie Swearingen - volunteer (email)
Date: 2/18/2016 at 16:03:46

Sioux City Journal
25 August 2004

OCEAN PARK, Wash. -- Donald Wayne Palmer, 82, of Ocean Park, formerly of Mapleton, Iowa, died Friday, Aug. 13, 2004, at his residence.

There were no formal services. A private committal was held at Willamette National Cemetery in Portland, Ore.

Donald Palmer was born Dec. 9, 1921 in Kearney, Neb., the son of Elmer and Beulah (Farrar) Palmer. He grew up in Mapleton. At age 15 and at the height of the Depression, he lied about his age to join the Civilian Conservation Corps.

He married Evelyn Riley on Dec. 13, 1941, in Iowa. She died in 1991.

He enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War II, serving in the South Pacific. On March 11, 1944, he was wounded and later honorably discharged with a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. He returned home to his family in Iowa where he worked odd jobs.

Moving to the West Coast, he worked as a security guard at a brothel in California before moving to Vancouver, Wash., in 1956. He worked as a longshoreman for 15 years. In 1972, he moved to Ocean Park.

He enjoyed time with his family, fishing, drawing, writing poetry and traveling.

Survivors include six daughters, Janice Brumitt and Paula Fouts of Ocean Park, Pam Pousette and Tina Regle of Vancouver, Jolene Gregory of Aloha, Ore., and Brenda Ratliff of LaCenter, Wash.; a son, Craig Palmer of Ocean Park; two sisters, Mildred Burns of Whiting, Iowa, and Betty Gerretts of Le Mars, Iowa; a brother, Gale Palmer of Sergeant Bluff; 25 grandchildren; 30 great-grandchildren and six great-great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by twin children.

Memorials may be made to Harbors Home Health and Hospice in care of Penttila's Chapel by the Sea, P.O. Box 417, Long Beach, Wash., 98631.