Joan Phyllis Palmer

Joan Palmer, age 90, of Pueblo West, Colorado, and formerly of Marshall, Minnesota, died peacefully with family by her side on Saturday, April 27, 2024, at her home in Colorado. Celebration of Life events for Joan begin in Colorado. A Memorial Service will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, May 4, 2024, at the Crown of Life Lutheran Church in Pueblo West (145 South Abarr Dr, Pueblo West, Colorado 81007). A reception will follow at the church. Local Memorial Services are 2:00 p.m. Thursday, July 25, 2024, at the Hamilton Funeral Home in Marshall, Minnesota. Following a light reception, interment will be in the Marshall Cemetery, Marshall, Minnesota. Visitation will be held one hour prior to her celebration, from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. Thursday, July 25, 2024, also at the Hamilton Funeral Home in Marshall.

Flowers are welcome, but you may wish to consider a donation in Joan's name to any of the following: The Parks and Trails Council of Minnesota (at parksandtrails.org), Crown of Life Lutheran Church (at crownoflifelutheran.com), or the Ladies Aid of Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church (at christlutheran-marshallmn.org). Thank you.

Joan Phyllis (Lamberton) Palmer was born Joan Phyllis Holsum in Moorhead, Minnesota, on September 11, 1933.  She was adopted from the Children’s Home Society in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at the age of three months by Florence (Redetzke) Lamberton and Walter D. Lamberton of Redwood Falls, Minnesota, and renamed JoAnn Lamberton. JoAnn was baptized into the Methodist Episcopal Church in Redwood Falls. She grew up in Redwood Falls and from childhood showed great love for animals and nature by walking neighbors’ dogs through Alexander Ramsey State Park in town and trying to identify its flowering plants on her walks. JoAnn loved reading and pursued her love of books by working at the Redwood Falls High School Library and then the Redwood Falls Public Library. She also enjoyed working at the Redwood Theater and the A&W Drive-In.

JoAnn made many friends during her junior and senior high school years, maintaining many of these relationships until she and her friends were separated by death. Later in life, Joan decided to adopt her birthname back as she moved into her professional career.

Joan wanted to be a nurse and after graduating with the Redwood High School class of 1951, she enrolled in the St. Mary’s School of Practical Nursing in Rochester, Minnesota, in 1952.  She graduated from St. Mary’s the next year and received licensure as a Licensed Practical Nurse. Joan accepted a full-time nursing position at the recently opened Wiener Memorial Hospital in Marshall in 1953. She continued nursing intermittently for many years after her marriage.  

It was in Marshall that Joan met the love of her life, Donald D. Palmer. They were united in marriage April 7, 1956, at St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Don’s hometown of Fairfax, Minnesota. Together they raised their six children: Debra, William, Douglas, Donna, Robert, and Ann.

Her many loves in life included time spent with her life partner, Don, her children and grandchildren, camping, playing 500 with her family, and her decades-spanning nurses’ card club. Joan loved learning the ways of a farm spouse after moving to the country in 1969 and corresponding with an enormous roster of extended family members and friends from her many social circles.  She also cared for a long list of family dogs, cats, horses, and even a burro.

Joan was a faithful member of Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church in Marshall where she was a pillar of the Ladies Aid Society. After her 2017 move to Pueblo West, Colorado, at the invitation of her daughter, Donna, she was an active member of Crown of Life Lutheran Church.

Joan passed away in her own bed, surrounded by the loving support of her daughters, Donna and Debra; son, Robert; and son-in-law, Mark Schmidt, on Saturday, April 27, 2024.  She had celebrated her 90th birthday with all her children and many of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren at a family gathering in Deadwood, South Dakota in September 2023.

Among those who shared Joan’s life and felt her deep love are her 6 children, Debra (and Shaun Sommerer) Palmer of Henderson, NV, William (and Kathleen Neil) Palmer of Marshall, Douglas (and Laurie) Palmer of Lynden, WA, Donna (and Mark) Schmidt of Pueblo West, CO, Robert (and partner, Rocelyn Anway) Palmer of Red Wing, MN, Ann (and Gustavo) Estrada of Marshall, MN; 15 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; nieces, nephews, other relatives and many friends.