Barbara Marie (Siener) Palmer, 79, died on August 12, 2018 in her son’s home in Lexington, Massachusetts. She was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, the daughter of Francis and Mary Frances Siener on May 25, 1939.
One of five children, she attended St. Agnes Academy High School in Indianapolis, worked as a bookkeeper for her father’s construction business, and then attended St. Mary of the Woods College, majoring in music. After two years of college, she married her husband, James V. Palmer, moved to Fort Wayne, IN, and left college to start a family. Over a span of 17 years, she and her husband had 8 children. In 1978, they started a business together, Palmer Pharmacy in Grabill, IN, where they both worked long hours while also raising their large family. Barbara maintained her love of music throughout life, performing in several musicals and operas, singing in church choirs, playing the piano, and even singing for Pope John Paul II in Rome as a member of an alumni choir of St. Mary of the Woods at the beatification of Saint Theodora in 1998. She was an avid reader and patron of the library, reading several books every week. She loved crossword puzzles, card games, and scrabble, and was an avid Word Feud player with many of her children and grandchildren. She loved to travel, and made it to London, Rome, and Paris, but she especially loved to travel by car, and boasted visiting all 50 states, including a road trip by herself to Alaska.
Surviving are her eight children - three daughters, Diana (Mike) Brooks, Linda (“Chip”) Stenger and Barbara Palmer, and five sons, Christopher, David, Gregory, Philip, and James (Diana) Palmer. Also surviving are her ten grandchildren, her two sisters, Rose Palmer and Mary Clark, and her brother James (Debbie) Siener. She was preceded in death by her ex-husband, James V. Palmer, and her older brother, Francis Theodore Siener.
Visitation is from 10:30 – 1:00 Saturday August 25, 2018 with a Memorial service beginning at 1:30 at Hockemeyer and Miller Funeral Home, 6131 St. Joe Road, Fort Wayne, Indiana, 46835. Burial in Catholic Cemetery, Fort Wayne, IN. Donations can be made in lieu of flowers to the Allen County Public Library.
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