John E. Palmeri, 95 of Toms River, NJ and Bradenton, Florida went to the big Fly-In in the sky on April 23, 2019. John was born in Freehold, NJ. John attended Point Pleasant Beach High school and graduated from Freehold Regional High School. John enlisted and honorably served in the Navy 33rd Construction Battalion (Seabees) during World War II in the South Pacific. After the war he attended Rider College. John owned his own business during the 1960s installing and repairing bulkheads along the coast of central and southern NJ. He was employed at Camp Evans in Wall Township and Fort Monmouth as an Electronics Specialist/Technician and retired as an Equipment Specialist after 30 years of service in 1978. He also worked from 1979-1989 as an Electronics Technician at American Electronic Laboratories (AEL) at Monmouth Airport. John moved to Bradenton, Florida in 1995 where he enjoyed fishing, golfing and flying. John’s passion in life was flying experimental aircraft. John owned four airplanes over the course of his long life. Two of those planes, an RV-3 and RV-4 he built and proudly flew for many years travelling as far south as Lakeland, Florida and as far north as Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He was a member of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), the Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association (AOPA), the OX5 Aviation Pioneers and the American Legion.
He was predeceased by his parents Elizabeth (nee Sherlock) Palmeri/Fegan/Douglas and Edward Palmeri and his sister Eleanor “Betty” (nee Palmeri) Herrman, his ex-wife Wilma (nee Weeks) Palmeri and his son-in-law Allen Kovach. John is survived by his daughter Mary (nee Palmeri) Kovach of Toms River, NJ and his granddaughter Marissa Kovach of Davenport, Florida.
There will be a memorial gathering from 2-4 pm, with a service with Military Honors to take place at 3:30 pm, at the Anderson & Campbell Funeral Home on Rt. 571 in Manchester Township, NJ on May 2, 2019. In lieu of flowers contributions in John’s memory can be made to the EAA Aviation Foundation, Inc., PO Box 3816, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3816.
