GERALD L. PALMER

ANNA, Ill. -- Gerald L. Palmer, 83, of Anna, Ill., formerly of Mounds, died Friday, Nov. 20, 1998, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau.

He was born Sept. 2, 1915, in Mounds, son of Roy and Ethel Helman Palmer.

He was a member of the Congregational Church in Mounds and a lifetime member of the United Transportation Union. He was a retired railroad switchman after 25 years with Missouri Pacific Railroad.

He is preceded in death by his first wife, Edith Marie Jackson Palmer, his second wife, Lena Palmer, and a brother.

He is survived by two daughters, Margaret Ann Richards of Mound, and Gerry Packard of Cambridge, Wis.; a brother, Dr. James Palmer of Charleston, Ill.; five sisters, Daisy Calhoun, Marjorie Rives and Lelia Ruth Palmer, all of Mounds, Mermie Reeves of Pulaski and Evva Tuffley of Bull Heads, Ariz.; a close friend, Julie Hickam of Jonesboro; five grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

Funeral will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Jones Funeral Home in Villa Ridge, with the Rev. Tom Ellison officiating. Burial will follow in the Spencer Heights Cemetery at Mounds.

Friends may call after 5 p.m. Monday at the funeral home.