Ann Irby Palmer

Mrs. Ann Charlotte Irby Palmer, 101, died at home November 25, 2019. She was born in Lucy, Tennessee, at the family home, on November 12, 1918. After beginning her college years at what is now the University of Memphis, she married and later moved with her family to Columbus, where her husband began his lengthy career with American Bosch Arma Corporation (AMBAC), where he retired as Group Vice President of United Technologies Corporation’s Electrical and Fluid Power Products Division. She graduated from Mississippi State College for Women (the “W”) with a bachelor of science (BS) degree, followed by a scholarship for graduate study and a master’s in speech pathology from the “W”. She actively supported others who wanted to further their higher education there.

Ann I. Palmer was a Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International. She was a member of the Historical Society and Association of Preservation of Antiquities, a Lifetime Friend of the Library, a charter member of the Blewett-Harrison Lee Home Docents, and one of the original drivers of Meals for the Homebound. She was an active member of St. Paul’s Church in Columbus, serving as president of its Altar Guild and an officer of the Episcopal Church Women. She was an early member of the St. Paul’s chapter of Daughters of the King.

Mrs. Palmer was a member of the Town and Country Garden and Luncheon Club when it was organized in 1955. She enjoyed her memberships in social, breakfast, walking and supper clubs. She supported the YMCA, the Riverine Society of United Way, Tennessee Williams Tributes, and Columbus Arts Council, Community Theatre, St. Paul’s School and MUW Foundation.

She enjoyed traveling worldwide and through out the United States with her husband of over forty years, friends from Memphis and Columbus, her children and grandchildren, during which time she made new friends continuing to correspond with them until very recently.

Mrs. Palmer was preceeded in death by her husband, Edward Jackson Palmer; her parents, Jesse Roy and Virginia Williams Irby; and sister, Ruth Irby Cox.

Survivors include daughters, Charlotte Seeley, Susan Mullins (Dave), and Blair Simpson; grandchildren and their spouses; and great grandchildren.

A memorial service for Mrs. Palmer will be held at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church January 11, 2020, at 11:00 AM. The family will receive friends in the Earlene Robertson Room of St. Paul’s at 10:00 AM, prior to the service. Memorial Gunter Peel Funeral Home & Crematory, College Street location, has been entrusted with the arrangements.

Memorials may be made to the charity of the donor’s choice.