Robert Palmer

Robert W. Palmer was born September 9, 1926 in Little Falls, MN and died at home in Frederick, MD on May 28, 2020 at the age of 93. He is survived by Norma, his wife of 72 years, their four children with respective spouses, and two grandchildren.  He has two surviving siblings and another who has passed.

His mother, the former Aileen Grimes, encouraged his great love for nature.  While still in diapers, she found him sitting on an anthill, fascinated by and covered with ants.  Soon after cleaning him up, she found him doing the same thing again.  As a boy, getting sprayed by a skunk was OK—it meant a few days freed from Catholic school.  His father, Robert Dean Palmer, was a fastidious man often tested by Bob’s interests.  One example was the mess on the roof caused by a clutch of herons roosting there.  Bob had raised them, so they considered it their home too.

He left high school to join the Navy in 1944, but the coral reefs of the South Pacific made the most indelible memories he had of WWII.  Other sailors asked why he spent his free time diving there, but he was unable to persuade any of them to share his discovery of these miraculous places.

He did go on to convince many others about the wonders of Nature.

After earning a degree in wildlife management, he felt at home working at the National Zoo.  Bob was the first zookeeper to have Pygmy Marmosets who thrived, for example. He recognized how terribly shy they were and, by simply growing sweet-potato vines in their enclosure, provided the privacy they needed to feel safe.

At the National Institutes of Health (NIH), he discovered the remarkable ability, not only to understand biological research, but to write about it so it was accessible to others.   He translated scientists’ work by writing press-releases and editing articles for their peer-reviewed publications. He wrote speeches for institute directors and prepared Congressional testimony to justify the NIH budget.  Along the way, he met at least a handful of Nobel laureates, some while guiding them around the NIH campus and explaining what was going in the laboratories.  He became conversant with people like John C. Lilly and Isaac Asimov.

The Times wanted him to go to New York and write for them, but he found The City intimidating and turned them down.  Bob preferred living with Norma in Gambrill State Park, retiring there in 1978.

In retirement, Bob came closest to achieving his original wildlife management dream by working as a Gambrill State Park Ranger.  He taught the ‘real’ wildlife managers a few things and helped to improve the Nature Center there.  He was always an informal interpreter of nature, whether talking to visitors, campers or anyone else.  He rehabilitated wildlife, like the fledgling Great Horned Owl he raised.

His wife and children were profoundly influenced by his love for nature.  Norma always nurtured Bob’s interests, which meant doing much of the work required to include everything, from alligators to wood ducks, as members of the household. There were many raccoons and many more dogs.  In a way, his four children grew up as uniquely loved members of Bob and Norm’s menagerie.  Seeing themselves as a part of the natural world that he loved, they came to love both him, and Nature, in return.

There will be no memorial service.

The family encourages donations to the World Wildlife Fund in lieu of flowers.