Submitted by: Dan Rich

Mary M. Palmer

Dec. 21, 1922 - Feb. 10, 1998

South Bend Tribune 2/19/1998

Mary M. Palmer, an executive assistant to a number of powerful men during her career, died on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at Stanford University Hospital in Palo Alto, Calif. She was 75 and lived in Palo Alto. She worked for a number of large corporations during her life, and particularly enjoyed supporting people of significant achievement, including William F. Buckley, Jr., Dr. Carl Menninger and David Packard.

Her greatest achievement, she always said, were her two sons, both South Bend natives. Stephen Palmer of Santa Clara, Calif., continues his 30-plus year engineering career at Lockheed Martin supporting Army and Air Force communication satellites. Dr. David Palmer of Santa Clara, Calif., is a partner in a marketing consulting firm in Silicon Valley and teaches evening MBA students at two universities.

Mrs. Palmer began her career in the patent department at the Bendix Corporation in South Bend after graduating from James Whitcomb Riley High School. She pursued her interests in mid-life, earning both a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature, with honors, from Arizona State University, and a Master of Arts degree in English literature, with honors, from San Jose State University. She was also a lifelong member of the charitable Sigma Phi Gamma Sorority and served as an international officer.

Mrs. Palmer was born in South Bend on Dec. 21, 1922, to the late Robert and Marie (White) Bliler. She was also preceded in death by a brother, Robert Bliler in 1965. A sister, Cecelia Goddard, followed her in death on Feb. 12, 1998. She is survived by her sister, Pauline Keefer, and by a brother, William Franklin Bliler, both of South Bend.

Services will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday in the Welsheimer Funeral Home, 521 N. William Street, South Bend, where friends may call from 1 to 2 p.m. on Saturday. The Rev. Robert Bizzaro will officiate. Burial will follow at Highland Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Heart Association.