William Scott Palmer

William was born on April 28, 1930 in Arlington Washington to Richard Blair Palmer and Irene Rosalie Funk, and passed away peacefully of natural causes in his home in Corona, CA at the age of 87 years old on August 25, 2017. As a very young boy Billy lived on a farm with his grandparents in Arlington Washington. He spoke often of his days with his beloved grandpa and the adventures he had there. When he was school age his family moved to Fairbanks, Alaska. This is where he learned to love the frontier and all of nature. He learned to hunt with his dad, chop wood and haul water to sustain their family in their cabin. He was one of the original Ice Road Truckers, hauling fuel and nitroglycerin to the Army engineers building the Alaskan Highway and bases in Northern Alaska. He served in the Korean War as a Navy radioman RM3 on the Destroyer USS Dehaven and the USS Hamel from 1950 to 1954. Bill drove a truck hauling heavy construction equipment for his livelihood. He also drove pavers, rollers, waters trucks and graders on construction sites. Some of the high lights of his career were helping to build the 405 and the 5 freeways in Orange County and the most important job was helping to pave Disneyland! Because of his connection to Disneyland, we felt an attachment and visited the park as a family very often. He raised his family in Garden Grove, California. Spent most of his retirement in Reno Nevada and returned to California for his golden years. Bill loved to ski, hunt, hike, camp, trap shoot, build models, fix jeeps, watch John Wayne movies, eat Neapolitan ice cream apple pie! He is preceded in death by his only sibling Jean Blankenship of Mesa, Arizona Survived by his wife of 64 years, Mary Helen Flores Palmer. Five Children - Suzan ( Gilbert) Rivas, Richard Palmer, Ed ( Robin) Palmer, Tina ( Lee) Beaudoin, William ( Karin) Palmer, Jr, eleven grandchildren - Geoffrey ( Danielle) Rivas, Stephen Rivas, Andrew Rivas, Jeremy ( Crystal) Palmer, Kyle Palmer, Adam ( Allie) Palmer, Kristin ( Andrew) Harvey, Michael ( Suzanne) Beaudoin, Lisa Beaudoin, Salem Palmer, and William Scott Palmer, III and four Great-Grandchildren - Graciela Rivas, Aurora Palmer, Adelice Palmer, Wyatt Palmer. A Celebration of Life will follow service at Lake Perris SRA in the Lakeview Pavilion at 11:00 am. Cemetery Riverside National Cemetery Staging Area #4 Thursday 1/1 Riverside National Cemetery Staging Area #4 Friday 9/29, 10:00 am