George L. Palmer, a cornerstone of the Chelsea community and retired longtime owner of the oldest Ford automobile dealership in Michigan, passed away Sunday evening with his family at his side.
He was 78.
He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Donna; daughter and son-in-law Suzie and Biff Weber and grandsons John and Matt Weber of Chelsea, and daughter Dr. Carol Palmer of Denver.
Funeral services will take place at 11 a.m. Friday at the First United Methodist Church of Chelsea.
Suzie Palmer Weber said Monday that her father suffered from dementia and that his health had deteriorated rapidly over the past several months.
"He was one of the most caring, giving people," Suzie said. "The love he had for Chelsea just showed."
Biff Weber, who was general manager of the dealership when George Palmer retired 10 years ago, called him one of Chelsea's "founding fathers."
"He was a very involved, very generous man," Weber said. "He was one of the founding fathers of this town, and he was behind a lot of things that put this town on the map.
"If it weren't for people like George, this town wouldn't be what it is now."
Those sentiments were repeated over and over by those who knew him well.
"He was always a well-regarded and respected member of the business community, and a valued and respected member of the bank's board for many years," said Paul Schaible Jr., retired president of Chelsea State Bank.
"He wasn't always out front, but he definitely was one to put a group of people together and get things done; a real behind-the-scenes person."
Another close friend and prominent Chelsea businessman, Bob Daniels, said Palmer was always concerned with the community's welfare.
"The village and the city of Chelsea always meant a great deal to him," Daniels said. "It was always foremost in his mind in how he and others could contribute to making it the best place it could possibly be."
Palmer was best known through the car dealership that his father, Leigh Palmer, opened on a significant date in history: April 15, 1912 - the same day the Titanic went down.
"It started as a gas station, then Leigh heard about this guy building these things called automobiles, and he thought he'd buy a franchise," Weber said.
"George took over for his dad while he was still in school, and retired in 1997 after 54 years."
Palmer's daughter and son-in-law began working for him 22 years ago, and took over the dealership when Palmer retired with virtually no notice.
"We'd been after him for a while and he kept resisting, then one day he came to me and said, 'I'm ready,'" Weber recalled. "I said, 'Dad, I'm just going into a meeting, can I talk to you later?' and he said, 'Good. Let's go down there and tell everybody right now.'"
That penchant for straight talk and direct action earned Palmer the admiration and respect of business associates, employees, customers and the company whose products he sold for so many years.
"We are deeply saddened by the passing of George Palmer," said Randy Stewart, Ford's Detroit Regional Manager.
"He was a devoted dealer and longtime friend of Ford Motor Company. We at Ford offer the Palmer family our deepest condolences."
Schaible and Daniels were fellow graduates with Palmer of Chelsea High School's Class of 1947.
Daniels praised Palmer as a man of strong character.
"He was a man of honor," he said. "There were no gray areas with him; he was a man of strong opinions one way or another.
"I was privileged to have him as a friend."
Another friend and CHS classmate recalled that Palmer, though "a little shy," enjoyed having some good, clean fun.
"He'd pick me up and take me to school in this '35 Ford that his father gave to him. He completely, beautifully restored it and, boy, would it go fast!" said Jack Merkel.
"We'd get into some mischief, as most young men do, but nothing too serious."
Merkel said Palmer was meant to be in the car business: he was as good at working under the hood as he was at restoring cars.
"He got a '39 Ford and he did a really great job restoring that; and he was a great mechanic," Merkel said.
"He was one of the lucky ones, someone who got to spend his life doing what he really loved to do."
It seems that Suzie inherited that love of the car business, taking over as the third generation running the historic dealership.
"I started working here when I was 13; he and I would do parts inventory by hand," she said.
From that humble beginning her father acted as her mentor.
"If there's one thing Dad taught me, it's that anybody can sell a car, it's all about how you take care of them after that," she said.
"He was a great 'back end' person; he was always involved in the service side of the business," she added.
"'Get to know your customers; that personal relationship will guarantee that you'll keep them,' he'd say."
Suzie is following in her father's footsteps at the dealership.
"My expertise is parts-and-service-oriented; I like to be on the service drive for a couple of hours every day," she said.
"My job is to meet and greet customers, find out what's wrong with their cars, fix it, and tell them I'll see them again."
The way Palmer treated his employees mirrored the way he treated customers.
"I worked for him for 13 years and I can't think of anybody better to work for," said sales representative Steve Williams.
"He always thought more of other people than he did himself, (and) he always made the employees feel like they were part of the family."
Williams described his former boss as always happy, with a good sense of humor, but he took customer service very seriously.
"He was really known for making sure the customer was number one, that they were always taken care of whether for sales or service," Williams said. "That's why he stayed in business for so long."
Used Car Manager Don Poppenger, who started working with Palmer in August 1980, said his death was "a great loss."
"He always worked from 6:30 in the morning to 10:30 at night, he'd go home for dinner and come back," Poppenger said. "He always ran a family-oriented business."
As much as the dealership meant to him, Palmer relished his role as a quiet community leader.
"George took a number of people under his wing and helped them, and it's not generally acknowledged," said friend, neighbor and personal attorney Peter Flintoft.
"He was politically active in the village, and would organize slates of candidates to run."
Suzie said her father was one of the founders of the Chelsea Civic Foundation, which is now the Chelsea Community Foundation.
"Dad was thinking about endowments and investments long before anybody else was," she said.
"He was one who said, 'What will Chelsea do 10 or 20 years from now, and we need a plan we can put in effect to make that happen.'"
Palmer's health began to change three years ago when he was diagnosed with dementia, and other setbacks followed.
"He had problems with his wrists and arms that turned into a nasty form of arthritis," Suzie said.
"He had surgery to correct that in 2006, and after that is when we noticed he was slipping."
She said she spent a lot of time with her parents last winter to ease the burden on her mother, and realized her father's physical and mental condition was deteriorating rapidly.
Two days after George and Donna's 50th wedding anniversary on May 4 last year, he fell and needed knee surgery and was wheelchair-bound after that, Suzie said.
"We realized he needed more extensive care than we could give him at home, so he's been in the Towsley Village memory unit since then."
Palmer was taken to the University of Michigan Hospital on Jan. 31 to replace a pacemaker, but post-surgical complications set in and he was put on a respirator.
"They discovered a heart valve problem, there was an infection and possible pneumonia," Suzie said.
"The doctors told us he could wake up from the anesthesia and he just wouldn't be there anymore."
There was a strong possibility he would be totally confined to a bed, and the family knew he wouldn't want that, Suzie said.
"All three Palmer women — my mother, my sister and I — were in agreement: We unhooked everything and said goodbye," she said.
"The way I figure it, he found a way to avoid several years of dementia."
He was still outgoing and friendly, Suzie noted, but the way the world was changing saddened him.
"He still believed that a handshake was a deal, and he didn't understand why anyone would go down the street just to save 20 bucks on a car," she said.
She is handling her father's loss well by keeping one thing in mind.
"I'm OK - I don't ever have to worry about the day I go over there and he's not able to recognize me," she said.
A more immediate concern was for her mother, she said.
"We put Dad in Towsley and she's been at home for seven months, but she's gotten a taste of (being by herself)," Suzie said.
"I told her, 'You are so blessed, you had 50 years together,' and when things did get bad with him she was only a mile and a half (away).
Her mother is 73 and in good health, Suzie noted.
"She lives across the driveway from me. She can't do a whole lot without me knowing about it, and vice-versa."
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