Marion Schaefer Palmer November 16, 1927 – December 15, 2018 Share this obituary Local Florists Sign Guestbook| View Guest Book Entries Marion (Schaefer) Palmer passed away on December 15, 2018 at Woodridge Nursing Home in Berlin, VT with family by her side. She was 91. Born on November 16, 1927, she was raised in East Montpelier where she would later reside with her husband, David, in a home they built together, adjacent to her family farm.
Marion was a graduate of Montpelier High School. She had a love of sewing passed down to her from her Mother who was a fashion designer in NYC at the turn of the century. As a youth and teen, Marion was very active in 4-H, even traveling to Chicago during high school.
She went on to be a local and State 4-H leader. Through the years she used her sewing skills to build a seamstress and craft business that she maintained well into her 80’s. Marion and David created a large sugaring operation with their dear friend Carol Badger.
After Dave and Carol passed, she took her knowledge to Morse’s Sugar Shack where she spent many years working during the spring and fall seasons assisting with the tour buses and retail business. She was a proud and dedicated volunteer throughout her life. She grew up volunteering in her community through her school and church.
During WWII she volunteered as a plane spotter and scrap drive coordinator for the American Legion. Later she and Dave were involved with helping to resurrect the Old Meeting House Church, which had been closed for years. After Dave passed of Lung Cancer in 1981, she volunteered to drive other cancer patients to Burlington for treatment.
She volunteered in the Kitchen at Camp Takumta during its early years. She volunteered in the hospital gift shop, coordinated neighborhood drives for both the American Cancer Society and March of Dimes Mother’s March. In 1999 Marion visited Washington DC to speak with members of Congress on behalf of the National Arthritis Foundation.
Marion loved to travel. Over the years she visited Germany, London, Ireland, Canada, Hawaii and much of the continental US. But, one of her favorite places to be, was close to home at the family camp on Peacham Pond that she and Dave built.
For many years this is where you could find her during the summer months, sewing on the picnic table and enjoying the beauty all around her. Marion is predeceased by her father, Ernest; mother, Christine; husband, David; brother, Howard and wife Beverly; and sister, Wilma and Husband Stanley Johnson. She is survived by her six children: Bobbi Palmer and wife Fay of Williston, Susan Aho of New Hampshire, Rebecca Mestieri and husband Ed of Maine, Peter Palmer and partner Kathy of Woodbury, Laurie Pearo and husband Ed of Milton, and JoEllen Calderara and husband Brian of Barre; as well as eleven grandchildren, sixteen great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.
A funeral has been planned for Friday, December 21 at 2 p.m. at the Old Meeting House Church in East Montpelier Center. Fellowship will following in the Community Hall. A graveside service will be held in May 2019.
The family requests donations be made in Marion’s name to Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice or the Old Meeting House Church.
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