David Edward Palmer

"Refuse to take 'can't' for an answer - especially for yourself."
David Edward Palmer of Martinsburg, West Virginia, died unexpectedly on June 28, 2024, three days short of his 43rd birthday. He was born July 1, 1981, in Des Moines, Iowa, and grew up in Mansfield, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Notre Dame High School in Elmira, New York in 2000, and he earned a B.A. in Anthropology from Penn State University in 2003. His working years included extensive employment in hospitality and construction project management, and his entrepreneurial spirit led him to establish multiple small businesses. Most recently, he was a Project Manager and Superintendent for ThinkMakeBuild Contractors in Washington, DC and volunteered with Crisis Relief and Recovery in Tyrone, Pennsylvania. Dave was passionate about construction and building, skills which he learned from his father, and he hoped to develop a trade curriculum and mentorship program to foster these skills in the next generation of young men. He built, repaired, and restored everything from buildings to antiques used in homesteading to pumpkin launchers modeled after medieval catapults. He was a meticulous and excellent craftsman and designer. A true Renaissance polymath and a man of many literal hats, he had niche interests including pressing hard apple cider and brewing his own beer, primitive camping and survivalism, historical costumes, fencing and piracy, foraging and herbal remedies, cooking, and ancient building techniques. He was deeply passionate about his family, especially his twin 4-year-old daughters Cora and Lily, for whom he felt a radiant love visible to everyone.
He is survived by his loving wife Mallory; his daughters Cora and Lily; a third daughter expected in August; his mother Beth Palmer Stoll (Barry) of Gerrardstown, WV; two brothers, Steven (Liz and son Michael) of Marysville, PA and Jim (Christina Leckfor) of Pittsburgh, PA; a sister Jennifer Koshko (David) of Steelton, PA; father- and mother-in-law Dave and Theresa Muffley of Clear Spring, MD. He was preceded in death in 2018 by his father Michael.
A viewing will be held at the Douglas A. Fiery Funeral Home, 1331 Eastern Boulevard North, Hagerstown, Maryland 21742, on Friday, July 5 from 4 to 7 pm.
A funeral service will be held at Bethel Assembly of God Church, 2010 Tavern Road, Martinsburg, West Virginia 25401, on Saturday, July 6 at 11 am with a luncheon to follow.
A private interment will follow at a later time.
In lieu of flowers, a donation can be made to Bethel Assembly of God Church to establish a scholarship for the development of young men of character or to Crisis Relief and Recovery ().
Online condolences may be expressed at www.douglasfiery.com