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Richard Lamar Palmer Sr., 78, of Bay Minette, Alabama, went to be with the Lord and family and friends who preceded him in death. A memorial will be held at a future date.

Lamar joined the Navy in 1963 and served in Vietnam aboard the USS Neches (AO-47) as a Boiler Technician 3rd Class Petty Officer. After leaving the Navy he was trained as an Electronics Technician at Lake County Community College in Florida. He went to work for Martin Marietta, which later became Lockheed Martin. At Lockheed Martin he earned accolades for creating a software program that assisted fellow employees in calculating various weights, saving them a lot of time in the performance of their duties. He loved playing and teaching music. He was self-taught from an early age on guitar, bass, banjo, and keyboard. He learned to work on computers. He was always analyzing and learning things from sports statistics to computer programming and food. He loved the Atlanta Braves and University of Alabama Crimson Tide. At family gatherings he always enjoyed entertaining the kids with riddles and card tricks. He will be deeply missed.

Lamar is survived by his two sons; Richard (Misty) Palmer Jr. of Sparks, Georgia and Shannon Palmer of Nashville, Georgia; seven grandchildren: Joseph (Katya) Palmer of Galax, Virginia, Shelby (Brent) Vance of Sugar Hill, Georgia, Alyssa Palmer of Ocean View, Virginia, Quinton Palmer of Henderson, Kentucky, Cheyenne Prince of Fletcher, North Carolina, Isabella Palmer of Nashville, Georgia, and Colby Palmer of East Flat Rock, North Carolina; seven great-grandchildren: Reilly Palmer, Mary Palmer, and Natalie Palmer, all of Galax, Virginia, Charlotte Vance and Graham Vance of Sugar Hill, Georgia, Cora Prince of Fletcher, North Carolina, and Carey Holmes of San Angelo, Texas, and nine brothers and sisters; Carl (Linda) Palmer of Huntsville, Alabama, James (Janice) Palmer of Hampton, Virginia, Charles (Jean) Palmer of Santa Rosa, California, Dewey (Cathy) Palmer of Fruitland Park, Florida, Lynda Pittman of Dozier, Jerry Palmer of Ocala, Florida, Charlene Newman of Fruitland Park, Florida, Rick Palmer of Silver Springs, Florida, and Debra Gandy of Sylacauga, Alabama.

He was preceded in death by his father, Carl Palmer of Fruitland Park Florida, and his mother, Margarel Palmer, also of Fruitland Park.