David Palmer

1941 – 2023

 

The family of David Harvey Peter Palmer is heartbroken to announce his passing on January 31, 2023 at the age of 81 after a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease. He was a kind and gentle man, with a great sense of humour and love for family.

David was born August 13, 1941 in Simpson, SK and moved with his family to Star City in 1950. After graduating from high school, David worked for the Bank of Nova Scotia in numerous locations in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. He was a good musician who played piano and electric organ, and even taught himself to play the accordion. David was an avid reader and nature photographer, and he loved watching hockey of any kind, including his great niece and nephews’ games.

Most of all, David loved the outdoors – camping, fishing, boating and hiking – and spent many weekends and vacations exploring Saskatchewan lakes, especially those in the province’s North. In 1973, while Branch Manager at the bank in Wynyard, SK, David met and became friends with Dick and Lee Cossette who shared his love of nature and his dream of starting a fishing and outfitting camp. After many months and challenging seasons constructing cabins, a store and other buildings themselves from the ground up, D and D Camps on Wollaston Lake began operating in 1976 and became David’s home and livelihood for the next 10 years.

Though his love for fishing, nature, animals and his camp culminated in a “dream come true” for David, the true gift during his time up north was meeting his wife, Marjorie Herrington. On a stormy day in August 1980, the plane she was the sole passenger in had to make an emergency landing in the camp’s bay. David loved to say she literally “dropped into his life”. Originally from the U.K., Marjorie was a Registered Nurse working in the North. David was smitten and the two were inseparable.

David and Marjorie moved to MacDowall, Saskatchewan in 1983 to begin a new adventure on a farm they purchased just outside the community south of Prince Albert. They raised livestock, both committed to their menagerie of animals, while David worked at Batoche National Historic Site as an interpreter and guide for the next 20 years. They then moved to Prince Albert, where Marjorie passed away in 2003 at the age of 66 and David continued to live until his passing.

In addition to Marjorie, David was predeceased by his parents, Gordon and Pearl Palmer. He is survived by his sister Orla (Dale) Myrfield of Kingston, ON and their daughters Teresa and Karen; his sister Joyce (Alan) Donald of Star City and their children Leanne (Duane) Stangeland of Beaumont, AB, Brendan (Ronda) Donald of Melfort, SK and Trevor (Michelle) Donald of Saskatoon; Marjorie’s niece Carolyn (Don) Hambly; as well as numerous great nieces and nephews and other extended family.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 2:00pm on Wednesday, February 8, 2023 at Gray’s Funeral Chapel, 575 28^th Street West, Prince Albert. The service will be live-streamed, and for family and friends unable to attend, the service may be viewed at  https://fweb.tv/95588 .  A private family interment will take place in the summer.

Donations in David’s memory may be made to the Parkinson Canada: parkinson.ca

Family and friends may leave online condolences at https://grays.ca/tribute/details/2821/David-Palmer/obituary.html#tribute-start

Funeral arrangements are entrusted to the care of Gray’s Funeral Chapel, (306) 922-4729, Paula Hanson, Funeral Director

• Date : 2023-01-31
• Location : Prince Albert, SK