Obituary - Joanne M. Palmer
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On Saturday, April 30, 2022, Joanne died peacefully at Our Lady of Hope in Richmond, Virginia, her home since 2019. She had lived in McLean, Reston, and Gainesville, Virginia since 1972. She was pre-deceased by her loving husband of 55 years, Donald Palmer in 2015. She was the loving mother of Jean Watling (Peter), Joan Lee, Douglas Palmer (Sarah), Diane Brown (Michael), and Julie Kipers (Jeff); grandmother to Michael, Daniel, Courtney, James, Chelsea, Jessica, Brittany, Kyle, Rebecca, Catherine, Eric, Nathaniel, Andrew, and Troy; great grandmother to Isabella and Giovani; sister to James Bachmann, Barbara Mayes, William Bachmann, and Susan Fry.
Joanne was born in Akron, Ohio on August 15, 1939. She graduated from Ursuline College in 1960 and began a teaching career. She and her husband moved from Ohio to California and then to Virginia where they settled in 1972 to raise five children. She was an active member of the McLean community, volunteered at the local schools, supported her husband as a military spouse, ran the McLean High School football booster club, and helped found the National Capital Soccer League, using her house as the hub of the initial organization. Although not an athlete herself, she was an avid sports fan who attended as many games as possible for her children and grandchildren to cheer them on. She was a Catholic school teacher at St. Joseph Catholic School in Herndon, Virginia and worked for several years at the RAND Corporation. She was an active volunteer in Gainesville, VA where she and her husband moved in retirement, volunteering at Prince William Hospital and Holy Trinity Catholic Church.
Funeral Services will be held at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church in Glen Allen, Virginia at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, May 11, 2022. There will be visitation at 10 a.m. and a luncheon following the service at noon.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to World Pediatric Project (https://www.worldpediatricproject.org) or March of Dimes (https://www.marchofdimes.org).
