William Bronson Palmer III, born on Sept. 17, 1941, passed away peacefully at home on Aug. 7, 2023.
Raised mostly in California, he followed his sister Patty to Silverton, Oregon in his late teens. He married Lorna Eldred in 1961 and they raised two boys, Kevin and Kyle.
In 1977, William married Shirley Thomas and added her children Ron, Rick, and Cheryl to the family. William and Shirley were inseparable for 46 years.
William spent his working career as a truck driver for West Coast Grocery, which later became Waremart, then finally WinCo, and continued to meet regularly for lunch with his remaining former co-workers. In retirement he and Shirley both lent their driving skills to the Silver Falls School District as bus drivers.
He was a big fan of the outdoors, and spent a lot of time snowmobiling, golfing, and on their boat at Detroit Lake.
William’s passing was preceded by his father, William Bronson Palmer Jr.; mother, Dorothy; father figure, Edward Palmer; step-son, Rick; granddaughter Amy Thomas; and beloved poodles Suzy, Dani, Lucy, Tucker, and Cloudy.
He is survived by wife, Shirley; poodle, Sasha; sister, Patty; nephew, David; niece, Robbie; grandnieces, Kristin and Amy; children, Kevin (Stacy) and Kyle (Julie), as well as Cheryl (Jeff) and Ron (Linda); grandchildren, Jennifer, Marcie, Kelsey, Jake, Kyler, Colin, Cory, Alan, Taylor, Bobby, Elise, and Heather; and greatgrandchildren Jalysa, Isiah, Emory, Bailey, Toby, Riley, Cager, Zoey, Luke, Matthew, and McKenzie.
William’s service will be held on Saturday, Sept. 9 at First Christian Church at 1 p.m. with a gathering immediately after in the church multipurpose room. Arrangements made by Unger Funeral Chapel – Silverton.
