Phyllis Palmer

July 30, 1932 – January 21, 2023

Phyllis Palmer, 90, of Jefferson, Iowa, passed away at The Lakeside Village in Panora, Iowa, on Saturday, January 21, 2023. She had been a resident of The Lakeside Village since August 2022.

Phyllis was born on July 30, 1932, in Davenport, Iowa, the daughter of Fredric and Ethel Marie (Johnston) Swan. On June 3, 1951, she married Donald Palmer at the Cambridge Lutheran Church in Cambridge, Illinois. Phyllis was a graduate of the first class at Cambridge High School in 1950. After High School, she attended Western Illinois University. She worked at Swans, her parent's business, for many years.

In 1980 the couple moved to Florida and managed senior citizen apartments for NCHP. Don and Phyllis were named managers of the year in 1984. The couple then moved to Colorado in the 1990s and settled near Pikes Peak. They both worked in a family casino in Cripple Creek. One year they spent the summer working in Yellowstone National Park. They moved back to Cambridge, Illinois, in 2001. In 2008 they moved to Virginia to be with Phyllis's sister Marie. The three of them spent several years traveling from Virginia to Florida for the winter. Phyllis and Marie were very close and loved the time they spent with each other.

Phyllis was a member of the Cambridge Lutheran Church and was a Girl Scout Leader for 12 years. Her favorite hobbies were golf, playing bridge, traveling, and spending time with family, especially her two grandchildren, Alex and Annie.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Fredric and Ethel Marie Swan; daughter, Jane Palmer; sister, Marie (Robert) Winks; brother-in-law, Everett Palmer; brother-in-law, Don (Lorena) Cain and great-nephew, Michael Winks.

Phyllis is survived by her husband, Don Palmer of Jefferson, IA; sons: Steve (Steve) Palmer of San Diego, CA, and Mike (Sherry) Palmer of Jefferson, IA; sister-in-law, Mary Ann Palmer of Cambridge, IL; step-grandson, Austin Leis of Los Angeles, CA; grandson, Alex (Nicole) Palmer of Boone, IA; granddaughter, Annie (Josh) Knie of Sterling, IL, and several other relatives and friends.

A memorial service will be held at a later date in Cambridge, Illinois.

Memorials in Phyllis’s memory are suggested to the family to be used at their discretion. Mail in care of Slininger-Schroeder Funeral Home, P.O. Box 108, Jefferson, IA 50129