Hans C. Palmer

Hans’s parents, Hans Peter Palmer and Dagny Ella Stockel Palmer, immigrated to the United States from Denmark in 1923. They eventually settled in New York City, where Hans was born on September 21, 1933. When Hans was five, the family moved to Southern California, which remained his real home for the rest of his life. He graduated from L.A. High School in 1950. Hans received his B.A. and M.A. from the University of California Berkeley in 1954 and 1955 respectively, where he was a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. After serving as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army, he returned to U.C. Berkeley as a graduate student in economics and received his Ph.D. in 1965. In 1962 Hans accepted a position at Pomona College teaching economics and remained at Pomona until his retirement as Professor Emeritus in 2008. From 1998 until 2001 he served as Vice President and Dean of the College. During his tenure at the College, he received four Wig Distinguished Professor Awards for Excellence in Teaching. Following his retirement, the Pomona Economics Department dedicated a classroom in Hans’s name.

While at Berkeley, Hans met Beverly Wilson, a graduate student in English. The two were married on June 28, 1963, and lived in Claremont, California – where they raised their two children, Margaret and David – until 2021.

Hans was a gourmet cook, a lover of fine wines, and enjoyed travel, particularly by train. He adored animals of all kinds, especially dogs. The California coast was his favorite place on earth. Hans always found time for other people: students, colleagues, friends, and family. His grandchildren can attest to his generosity of spirit as well as his love for a good ice cream cone.

Hans was predeceased by his parents, an infant daughter Jane in 1967, and a brother-in-law John F. Wilson in 2021.

He is survived by wife Beverly Wilson Palmer, daughter Margaret Woodruff, her husband Charles Woodruff, their daughters Carolyn, Beatrice, and Eleanor; son David Palmer and his wife Stacey Tevlin and their sons, Silas and Abraham; sister-in-law Anne M. Wilson; brother-in-law and sister-in-law Thomas and Grace Wilson, along with cousins in Denmark and many nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held on June 28, 2023, at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Arlington, Virginia, followed by a reception at the Church. Interment will take place at a later date in the Wilson Family Plot in the Greenfield, Ohio, Cemetery. A celebration will occur in Claremont, California later this year.

In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be sent to Pomona College, Claremont California (www. pomona.edu); St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Arlington, Virginia (www.stmarysarlington.org); or the Lucky Dog Animal Rescue, Arlington, Virginia (www.luckydoganimalrescue.org).