1922 – 2003

NORWAY – Mary Ruth Palmer, 81, died Dec. 31, at her home in Norway, with her beloved husband by her side and her family close by, after a long and courageous battle with breast cancer.

Born on Aug. 24, 1922, the wonderful daughter of Henry A. and Ruth Tozier Snell of Buxton, she never gave up hope that she would conquer her cancer. She endured over one and a half years of treatment to stay here with her family.

She spent her entire childhood in Buxton, graduating from Buxton High School and getting her bachelor’s degree from Gorham State Teachers College, with majors in history and English.

She taught for 35 years, the last half being at Lyman Moore Junior High School in Portland. She married Cyrus Palmer, also a Buxton native, on July 27, 1946. When they retired, they moved to the Norway/South Paris area.

She was a gifted and talented writer and found much of her work accepted for publication. At first there were five books for children, then three of poetry and one biography. In 2003, she finished her tenth book, which described her early days growing up during the Great Depression. She did so love to write, leaving stacks of poems behind.

She was a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers, past president of the Maine Poetry Society and was on the staff of the State of Maine Writers’ Conference for many years. She gave of herself to others, who really admired her so much. She also loved to travel with her husband to interesting places. They spent much of their retirement years camping out around the country.

Besides her loving husband of over 57 years she leaves four wonderful daughters and their spouses, Nancy Lane and Edward Stein of Wayne, Pa., Janalee and Keith Welch of Worcester, Mass., Liana and Robert Poirier of Minot and Debra and John Drew of Gray; 10 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

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