Robert E. Palmer

1928 - 2019

Robert, age 91, passed away on August 28, 2019. He was born in Chicago, Illinois on March 1, 1928. He was a graduate of the University of Illinois and of Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey. He obtained his Ph.D. from University of Edinburgh and studied at Cambridge and Oxford. He served 3 large congregations in Santa Monica, California, Lincoln Nebraska and Naples, Florida. While in Lincoln, Nebraska, Robert was the Chaplain for the Nebraska Legislature for 23 years, where he was a party to a seminal constitutional law case, Marsh v. Chambers (1983), in which the Supreme Court of the United States found that the opening of Nebraska's legislative sessions with a prayer did not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Robert also served 11 interim congregations in retirement, for a total of 56 years of ministry, and published 6 books. His wife, Mary Lou, and his oldest son, Robert, predeceased him. He leaves behind 3 children, Richard Mark Palmer, Randall Scott Palmer, and Rebecca L. Palmer, and 10 grandchildren. His funeral and a celebration of his beautiful life will be at 4:00 on Saturday, September 14, 2019 at the First United Methodist Church of Orlando, 142 E. Jackson Street, Orlando, FL. A celebration reception will follow.