George H. Palmer

Palmer, George H Age 53, senior vice president of Serigraph Inc. West Bend, died of natural causes Saturday during a business trip to China. Palmer was in charge of business development in Asia. He recently developed and managed a project for 60 million toy cars for a Happy Meals program for McDonald's, which bought the license for promotions from the animated movie "Cars." After working on similar programs last week, he died at the Metro Hotel in Shenzhen. An artist as well as a businessman, Palmer held a bachelor's degree in art from Florida State University and a master's degree in information technology from Northwestern University. "George lived his life with great gusto and was passionate about work and friendships in graphics," said Mike Palm, chief operating officer at Serigraph. "He loved to travel, learn about other people and bring his creativity to bear on graphics projects." He had learned basic Mandarin. Palmer worked his way up at Serigraph, starting as an artist and becoming an expert at digital pre-press. His division won several printing patents. He was a member of its 25 Year Club. He was a former director of Printing Industries of Wisconsin and a director of the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust. He was an avid hunter, angler and golfer. Born in Westwood, N.J., he grew up in West Bend and graduated from high school in Vero Beach, FL. He married Chris Koenig, who was also employed at Serigraph, in 1981.In addition to his wife, he is survived by two sons, George C. and Bradley, also an artist; his mother, Mary Heimbach, Vero Beach; and a sister, Jacqueline (Alan) Rudominer, Fresno, CA. He is further survived by two brothers-in-law, Richard (Kathy) Koenig and Alan (Diane) Koenig; a sister-in-law, Susan (Terry) Trepte; and a mother-in-law, Delores Koenig. He is proceeded in death by his father, George Palmer; a brother, John Palmer; and two step-fathers, Cameron Bennallack and Phil Heimbach. Services are pending at the Philip Funeral Home, West Bend.