Theodore W. Palmer
, Oregon
September 30, 2026
My father Theodore W. Palmer died last Thursday, October 1st, 2026, shortly before his 91st birthday. His health had been declining for the last few years but his death was unexpected. The day before he died, my parents sat in the sunshine on their front porch and talked; he ate a tomato and bacon sandwich for dinner; they listened to classical music and then he went to sleep. He died quietly the next day at home with my mother by his side; he didn't suffer.My father was born in 1935, the third of three children. He grew up on the grounds of the Arnold Arboretum in Boston, where his father was a botanist. As a teenager his family moved to Webb City, Missouri, his father's childhood home. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in biochemistry from Johns Hopkins University in 1959. He then dramatically switched his focus to mathematics,…
