Thomas M. Palmerlee

PALMERLEE

THOMAS M. PALMERLEE

Thomas Palmerlee, 81, of Washington, DC, passed away peacefully on April 7, 2023.



Tom served 25 years as Staff Officer of the Transportation Research Board (TRB), a division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. Born in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1941, he grew up as one of three brothers, earned his BA in geography at the University of Kansas, and served in Vietnam as an Artillery Officer in the Marine Corps.



Tom grew up in Lawrence, a university town in the heartland of America where traditional Midwestern values of hard work, integrity, and respect for others were instilled in him from his early years. His father, a World War II veteran and professor of engineering at the University of Kansas, gave Tom and his brothers a firm grounding in these values, and they served Tom well as a leader in his profession. He was well known and respected as a can-do leader who inspired others, and he was a master of making connections among others because of his cordial, easy-going, and gracious personality.



Tom's expertise was in data management and geographic information systems. He was selected President of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association, an organization devoted to the then-new field of computer mapping and information systems. He was later selected to be its first paid Executive Director, a position which he held for over 12 years.



Tom moved to Washington, DC, to serve as Administrative Director for Wyoming Senator, Malcolm Wallop. Next, he applied his program management skills at TRB as Associate Director of the Technical Activities Division, where he served 31 transportation groups, committees and task forces and was staff liaison to 23 Cooperative Research Projects.



Tom's unique skill was guiding and supporting volunteers to contribute effectively to the ideas and organization of the transportation profession. As one distinguished volunteer said, "Tom is more than a friend; he is a brother who knows the strengths and weaknesses of his siblings, has a way of working with both to make them look good, feel good, and do good for their profession, and to love the experience."



Tom was a long-time resident of Capitol Hill. He was preceded in death by his wife, Christina, his parents, Albert S. and Viola M. Palmerlee, of Lawrence, Kansas, and his older brother, Albert M. Palmerlee, of Washington, DC. He is survived by his brother, David Palmerlee, of Buffalo, Wyoming. Tom will be inurned in Arlington National Cemetery in recognition of his honorable service to our country.