THOMAS JOE PALMER

Thomas Joe Palmer, age 92, passed away November 20, 2022. He was born March 6, 1930 at the family farm in Jackson, Oklahoma in the late afternoon during a heavy dust storm. He was preceded in death by his wife, Anne Tiller Palmer, his parents, Artimus Dempster Palmer and Grace Stewart Palmer, and his brother, James Paul Palmer. He is survived by son, Charles Thomas Palmer and wife Ellen, daughter Beverly Nienhiser and husband John, grandsons Joshua Palmer and Paul Nienhiser and wife Raegan Lynelle, granddaughter Sandra Palmer Titsworth and husband Tyler, and great-grandson Thomas Lane Titsworth and Cooper Hayes Titsworth, and two great-granddaughters Hallie Ray Nienhiser and Harper Anne Nienhiser.

Thomas attended the Baptist Church in Humphreys, Oklahoma after becoming a Christian and was baptized in the North Salt Fork of the Red River. He attended Ozark School through the tenth grade when the family moved to Loraine, Texas. After graduating high school In Loraine, he enrolled in Texas Tech University, majoring in Business Management with a minor in Finance. While at Texas Tech, Tom was a member of the Wrangler Fraternity, later Alpha Tau Omega.

Tom served in the U. S. Army during the Korean War. Three months before being discharged and home on a three-day pass, he met and married his future wife. They were happily married for 67 years.

Tom had a colorful and successful career. He was employed as a U. S. Postal Carrier in Lubbock, Texas, and in Odessa, Texas in electrical wholesale. The family moved to Victoria, Texas when he was hired by Peerless Equipment as a wholesale construction equipment salesman. Quickly promoted, he then opened the company's first retail store selling Case construction machinery in Houston in 1965. The company flourished and Tom and family moved to Dallas when he was made General Manager. May years of steady sales and good leadership showed rapid growth and several new stores were opened in Houston, Longview, Webster, and Waco, where Palmer was re-located once again. When the Waco and Dallas stores closed in 1987, Tom returned to Houston and opened a new business, Trencher Haus, representing J I Case Construction Equipment. Tom sold this business and retired in 1995.

Tom was a happy man who always saw the bright and sunny side, a wonderful husband and father. Those who knew him found him an honest, fair and dedicated businessman, and a loyal friend.