Obituary
Ludelia Clemmer Palmer, aged 89, passed away peacefully on May 1, 2024, in Belton, TX. Private services will be held at a later date.
A native of the Lone Star State, LU was born in Dallas in 1934 and then lived in numerous places around the state. She and her husband, Dave Palmer, settled in Belton upon his retirement from the Army in 1991. Two tours in Fort Cavazos had convinced her that Central Texas was the ideal place to live. She became an avid participant in community activities, to include the Central Texas Republican Women of Bell County.
Following graduation from Hooks High School in 1952, Lu entered East Texas State Teachers College, now Texas A&M at Commerce, and graduated in 1956 with a major in speech education and a minor in music. She subsequently taught in Gladewater, Berlin (Germany) and Fort Cavazos.
Second only to raising her children to be healthy and contributing members of society, one as an educator and the other a nurse, Lu was most proud of her contributions as an Army wife. For more than three decades, she supported other military wives and their families through the many challenges and celebrations that came with being a part of a military family. This brought her great joy and satisfaction as well as many lifelong friendships with people around the world.
LU was ever adventurous, living life to the fullest. Perhaps no episode better illustrates that trait than her “slipping” into Vietnam during the war. Family members were not permitted to be there after 1965. But, curious to visit a place that had been the focus of such heated debate in America and where her husband had deployed twice, she decided to see it for herself. Obtaining a visa from the South Vietnamese, she flew there as a tourist in1971, staying a couple of weeks in Saigon and Dalat.
While enjoying 24 moves in her married life, Lu managed to pursue an interest in oil painting, a talent running in her family line back to John Singer Sargent. Her works grace the walls of friends’ homes across the country, including two portraits hanging at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York.
She is preceded in death by her parents, Ole Clemmer and Thelma Holden, and two brothers, Owen Clemmer and Robert Clemmer
She is survived by her husband, Dave Palmer; her daughter Allison Palmer Kane; her son Jens Kersten Palmer; and three grandchildren, Erin Kane, Holden Palmer, and Zhanna Palmer.
Those wishing to mark Lu’s passing may do so by donating to the Second Chance Animal Shelter in Killeen.