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John Lee Palmer
No. XXXXXX
Glenwood Springs, CO
Cremated
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correct picture of John Palmer |
Colonel John Lee Palmer, US Army (retired), age 88, died on December
17, 2023.
As a boy, John was in awe of the land and its seemingly endless
yield – a few seeds, plenty of rain, and lots of hot sun, and,
a new crop appeared. He was raised on the family farm in South Alabama.
Throughout his lifetime, John’s love and respect for the land
was expressed by planting vegetable gardens for his family and people
he cared for, both at home and overseas.
In school, he became insatiably curious about how things worked,
scouring his tiny local library for information. He hoped for an
education to become an engineer. Without financial resources he
decided that going to a service academy for a “free” education
might be the answer. Doubting his ability to compete for entrance
as a farm-boy, his math teacher reassured him that he had the intelligence,
and further, “You put on your pants just like they do, one
leg at a time!”
Knowing it was unlikely that he would receive a congressional appointment
to an academy, he decided to take entrance exams.This required that
he hitchhike to and from Fort Benning, Georgia, some 250 miles from
home. In June 1954 he entered the United States Military Academy
at West Point, New York. He graduated 4 years later and soon married
his first love, Barbara Keegan of Concord, NH.
As a junior officer, John set his sights on returning to West Point
as permanent engineering faculty. There would be many requirements
to be fulfilled for that goal to be realized. Among them he would
be deployed to Vietnam, attend advanced Army schooling, earn a Master’s
Degree, complete a three-year teaching assignment at West Point,
command a battalion in a combat-ready unit, and finally earn a PhD.
in Mechanical Engineering and Computer-Aided Design. He completed
these challenges in 1973, and joined the faculty at West Point.
After retirement from active duty, John and five colleagues launched
a new engineering school at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia,
graduating 14 students in the spring of 1987. Until classrooms became
available, faculty held classes in their own homes, garages and
empty warehouses. Today, Mercer School of Engineering is a fully
accredited engineering school, complete with graduate programs.
In 2002, the Palmers moved to Glenwood Springs. John taught at
Colorado Mountain College, and volunteered at middle and high schools
in Glenwood Springs and Carbondale. His love of teaching never waned.
Covid 19 retired him in 2020. Three years later John succumbed
to injuries incurred in Vietnam. Repeated exposure to the toxic
exfoliant Agent Orange resulted in Parkinson’s Disease and
severe PTSD from ongoing trauma, persisted in sensory recall of
wartime suffering.
John leaves behind his wife, Barbara, children, Kathleen (Keith)
Pilus, Gretchen (Kevin) Strom, and David (Brandi) Palmer, eight
grandchildren, and one great grandchild.
In late Spring of 2024, John’s family and close friends will
gather to remember him and commit his remains to the land he loved
in Glenwood Canyon.
If you would like to honor John Palmer, plant a vegetable garden
or do something special for a teacher.
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