Sharon D. Palmer-Quinn

Sharon was unable to breath the early morning of December 12, 2016. Paramedics were called and arrived quickly. They said her lungs were completely full and she was really bad. Looking back, I should have known to call sooner because she kept telling me she was fine and that is what she said before when she didn't want to go to the hospital. She survived two strokes over the last year or so. The first was October 2015 and second March 2016. Sharon was a very strong and selfless person. I know the last year or so had been very difficult for her, she was worried about me (Angella) and didn't want to leave until she knew I was okay. Sharon's heart stopped due to pulmonary edema. She was on a ventilator to help her breath. According to her wishes, she was taken off the ventilator and died December 16, 2016 surrounded by her family.

Sharon was born August 11,1946 to Robert C. Wall and Ruth Mary Coburn. She has an older brother, Steve Wall and younger sister, Sharlene Wochner. Sharlene said she was a wonderful older sister to have. Sharon would fix her hair for her and help her with her makeup and clothes making sure everything was perfect before she would leave the house.

Sharon attended Bonneville High School until her junior year, where she met Donald Rulan Palmer. Her Senior year she attended an all girls, Christian boarding School. She graduated in 1964. Sharon married Don Palmer, her high school sweetheart in 1965. Together they had three daughters: Angella Napier, April Fawson and Charmaine Kern. I (Angella) arrived in 1966 and my sisters in 1967 and 1969. Sharon went from childhood to legal adult, to wife and then motherhood a little too quickly. (In my opinion) Then came Vietnam. When Don returned things were not the same as before ( and as my grandmother would have said): Don and Sharon split the sheets!

Sharon had a wonderful sense of humor and loved to laugh. Her laughter was contagious. Being a single mother so young, with three babies to care for, I'm not sure how she managed! Sharon ran a Day care from her home for the state when we were really young and lived on Madison. She also rented out the basement of our home. She was hired by the Union Pacific Railroad in 1973. Things were not always easy but Sharon was a wonderful mother. She made sure that we always had a very nice home to live in. Our yard was one of the prettiest on the block. She enjoyed gardening and did the landscape herself. She was a very hard worker. Having three teenage daughters would be a challenge for anyone. (Now that I have grown children of my own I understand how life can be overwhelming. Four girls in one household is a recipe for tension!) Mom made sure we always had clothes that we liked to wear. We were all similar sizes and shared clothes and shoes. She remembered how devastating a "bad hair day" could be and allowed us to miss school if we were upset. I drove the car through both double wide garage doors in sixth grade trying to steal the car,( with my sisters in the car). I was grounded but she didn't even yell at me. We had huge Christmas's when we were young and mom must have made payments all year round to afford them! The house was filled with music every morning. Sharon was a very loving and generous person who had a great imagination, When we were little she made the world seem like an adventure. We were all allowed a pet. We all ate dinner together every evening. She took us boating, water-skiing, hiking, camping, to hotels so we could jump on the beds! For rides in the car, to Ogden Canyon, the Damn, Willard Lake, Bear Lake, the sand dunes, shopping, out to lunch, McDonalds and so on.... She and I charged a trip to Hawaii after I graduated. It took us a couple of years to pay off the trip but was worth it. When we were little we all went to Disneyland and Lagoon, of course! She took April and Charmaine on a road trip to the Grand Canyon. After I was much older and had all my kids we took a trip to New York to see Cats. (Picture above is in the hotel room before we left.) Things were not always perfect, no child comes with a handbook. As a single mother myself I understand how difficult it can be and feel lucky that she was our mom. I pray she knows how much she was truly loved.

Sharon had to transfer with the railroad to St. Louis, MO approx. 1990. There she met and married Timothy James Quinn. Together they purchased a beautiful home that was over a hundred years old. It had four floors and a basement, thirteen rooms, three bathrooms, all wood floors, stained glass in a vaulted ceiling entry way and a winding staircase. It had an old tub on four legs, radiators for heating, little laundry shoots on each floor (my kids threw everything down and I was afraid Zac might stick his little sister in!) and next to the kitchen if you opened the closet you could see where the servant's staircase had been at one time! It had a little, old garage built separately in the backyard plus a pond. Sharon, with her green thumb, had plants growing all over the house and trees in the entry way, as well as, on the large front porch. The house was in a historic part of town. Tim and Sharon had a lot of fun shopping and filling the house with antiques. She also loved to go to swap meets and garage sales. She enjoyed traveling, watching movies and spending time with family and her grandchildren. She was very thoughtful and any gift she sent my kids would love. Tim and Sharon later lived separately but remained married. Neither one had any interest in getting remarried. Sharon retired from the railroad after thirty years of service!!! This certainly is a great accomplishment.

After she retired Sharon returned to her hometown to care for her mother. After her mother passed Sharon's plan was to move to Phoenix, AZ to help her eldest daughter Angella (me) and enjoy her retirement and spend time with her grandchildren. She suffered and survived a brain aneurysm in October 2011 and was very lucky to have lived through this. She told me just before the surgery that she had the worst headache she had ever had and called 911 herself. She was in the hospital and rehabilitation for four and a half months and then an assisted living home for another six months Sharon moved to Phoenix August 2012.

I am eternally grateful that I was able to have this time with her. After she passed I found brochures and pamphlets that she had collected in her car, of places we could take Sydni here in Arizona. The Phoenix Zoo, wildlife zoos, horse riding, museums, aquariums etc. Sydni is my daughter and she is autistic. Sharon was an independent, proud and private person who internalized more than she should have. It was difficult for her to ask for help. She just turned seventy this past August. She was smart, pretty, honest, trustworthy and loyal. She died much too young.. We loved her very much and will miss her everyday! We will always carry her with us in our hearts and she will never be forgotten! God bless her.