Kay La Vell "Blackie" Palmer

Kay Lavell Palmer (Blackie) was born 18 July 1934 in Taylor, Arizona. The family was living in the Alma Zemira Palmer home at the time, with his grandparents John E. and Mary Alice Palmer. He was nicknamed Blackie because of his black hair. His older brother, Monte, was born with blonde hair and was nicknamed Whitey. One stuck and the other didn’t because of obvious reasons, Monte’s hair turned black.

The family moved around quite a bit in the early years. Work was hard to find in the 1930’s and you had to go where there was work. Dad never did like change and it was hard for him to move so much. Making friends came slowly for him. I suppose that was the main reason he didn’t like school. He tells of playing hooky and keeping the truant officer busy practically full time just trying to keep him in school when he was little. But when he did make a good friend he held onto him. One of his best friends in his teenage years was Lynn Baldwin. They looked alike, they both had dark hair, and when seen together people thought they were twins.

He met Mom, Veralda Doreen Reidhead, in school. They were attending Snowflake High School when they started dating. They were married on 27 August 1954 on the front porch of his parent’s home in Taylor. They were later sealed in the Mesa Temple on 11 April 1958. They had four children: Debra Kay (Debbie), Deliece Gay (Lecey), Marty Wayne and Michelle.

He started working in construction with his Dad after he was married. He helped build the Dairy Freeze and the pulp mill. Later he worked for Brimhall construction for quite a few years. Then he became partners with Ted Brimhall and later Marlin Brimhall. The company was then the Brimhall Palmer Construction Co. He built quite a few schools, churches, places of business and residences around the northern Arizona region. He had a good reputation in the area. Pete Shumway tells of an experience he had while helping to build the gym at the Snowflake Jr. High School. (Dad was the building contractor and I think Pete must have been the electrician.) He said he walked into the gym one day and the guys doing the sheet rock were sitting on the floor doing nothing. He asked them what the problem was. They said, “The ceiling is perfectly square, we don’t know how to do that”. (Ha, Ha) Dad believed if it was square on the bottom it should be square at the top.

He built his own homes (3) and Mom helped. She usually painted and sometimes helped roof. After moving into the second home, around 1969, he was asked to serve in the bishopric as a counselor to A.J. Freeman in the Taylor 2nd Ward. He served in a bishopric as counselor or executive secretary until 1980 when he was called to be the Bishop of the Taylor 3rd Ward. He said, “I must have finally got it right.” He served in that position for 6 years and then later served in the Stake Presidency as counselor to President Lewis Tenney.

It was while serving in this position that he died in a small airplane crash in Pinon, Arizona on 12 July 1990. He was flying with a business partner, Mario Ray, to a work site on the Navajo Indian Reservation where they were constructing a school administration building. The planed crashed while trying to land. All three in the plane died, Dad, the pilot and Mario. Before he left, as he was getting on the plane in Taylor, he didn’t seem to want to let go of Mom. He held her a little longer than usual and she asked to come with him. He said, “No, you have to stay here and take care of things. No matter what happens, I will always love you.” Those were the last words she heard him say. And she did stay and take care of things, for 12 long lonely years. Then she passed away on 21 August 2002 in Taylor, Arizona.

Dad loved serving the Lord, he loved the people he served. He was a sweet, kind, man who was compassionate and nonjudgmental. There was no man who tried harder to be in tune with the Lord and His will, especially when counseling others. He loved the gospel and lived it.

https://familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/14915365

grave http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Palmer&GSfn=K...