Charlotte Ruth Palmer

Charlotte Ruth Palmer slipped peacefully from this life into the next on October 20, 2024 at
Governor’s Bend Retirement and Assisted Living with her granddaughter at her side.
Always a firecracker, she was born on July 4, 1925 in Elizabethton, TN to J.E. and Mattie Simcox.
She spent a large part of her life in Mountain City, TN. In the late 1940s, a young naval officer,
David Lee Palmer, saw a picture of the twenty-something Charlotte. David lived in Jacksonville, FL
at the time, but was so struck by what he saw that he hitchhiked from Florida to Mountain City to
meet the young woman in the photograph. The feelings were mutual: Charlotte and Dave were
married soon thereafter, and they spent forty-one years loving and caring for each other. They lived
first in Mountain City, where their son, Steve, was born; they then moved to Jacksonville and later
back to Johnson City where they lived for many years.
Dave was the love of her life, and she stood faithfully by his side when he was diagnosed with
metastatic melanoma in 1982. Throughout his illness, she cared for him faithfully; they often passed
the time between doctor’s visits watching their favorite sports teams: the Boston Red Sox, the
Boston Celtics, and the University of North Carolina Tar Heels. Their love of sports blossomed as
they spent many hours at the baseball fields, cheering their young son on in Little League and
watching him become a talented player at Milligan College.
“Shorty,” as she was known to her friends and family, always had a quick wit and a kind word. Her
granddaughter, Jennifer, was the light of her life, and they were together at her passing. The family
wishes to extend its warmest thanks to the staff of Governor’s Bend and Amedisys Hospice for their
warm and compassionate care.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Dave, her parents, and eight siblings. She is survived by
one son, Steve (Judy) Palmer of Jonesborough, TN, granddaughter Jennifer Palmer Walker (Evan) of
Fairmont, WV, grandson Matthew Dickerson (Mary Catherine) of Jonesborough, TN, two great-
grandsons, Marley Robert Walker and Hudson Wayne Dickerson, five nieces, and two nephews.
Johnny Arnold, Zane Penley, Mike Penley, Blake Fenner, Isaiah Penley, Mike Fenner, and Matthew
Dickerson will serve as honorary pallbearers. A graveside service, officiated by the Rev. Evan Walker,
will be held at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Neva, TN on November 3, 2024 at 1:00 PM.