Billy Palmer

This memorial was created in honor of Billy "Paleobum" Thomas Palmer of Huntingtown, Maryland. Billy died in his home after a long battle with Cancer. The Memorial service will be held at the Rausch Funeral Home on June 16, 2018 at 1pm. Refer to web site http://www.rauschfuneralhomes.com/service-detail-page/?ServiceToolId=2297 for details Billy is survived by his loving Wife: Deborah, Son: Billy Thomas Palmer, Jr. (wife Patty) and grand children: David and Leila and Daughter: Tammy Lynn Gonzales (husband Rueben) and grand children Caroline and Kaleb. 1970 - 1990 Navy Career Billy joined the Navy in 1970 as a Submariner and retired after 20 years. He was a Sonarman, Senior Chief, Division LPO, Trainer and Master Chief. He earned many Navy Accommodations and stood out among his peers. Billy earned Master Chief during his 14th year which was significant since it was so early in his career and was the earliest this was achieved in Naval History. Career Submarines: USS Andrew Jackson 11/1971 - 7/1976 FleaswTracen Pac 10/1976 - 11/1979 USS Henry Clay 1/1980 - 11/1981 USS Thomas Jefferson 12/1981 - 5/1984 Comsubgrusix Staff 5/1984 - 5/1987 Subtrafac 6/1987 - 4/1990 Contributions to Paleontology Paleontology was Billy’s passion and primary hobby. He had a unique personality and only those who took time to get to know him could understand him. He was a story teller personality and indeed had many stories to tell of the days he collected in the field. Billy lived in areas highly productive in fossils both in Florida and South Carolina. Once retired from the Navy, he discovered this hobby would take him to new heights. Billy volunteered 14 years at The Charleston Museum, Natural Sciences Department as a Field Collecting Supervisor in Charleston, South Carolina. Billy was a highly knowledgeable and respected paleontologist without the formal title. He had a unique talent in fossil discovery and fossil preparation. Any specimen he extracted from the ground and prepared ended up looking like it just died and came to life. Many times he would take the specimen completely apart and join it back together learning and studying each piece gaining more insight for future work and identification of new species. Billy was a discoverer and supervisor/excavation of the Giant Cement Quarry in Harleyville, South Carolina Camelot site aiding Smithsonian staff in additional discovery of buried items containing, but not limited to Saber Cat, Dire Wolf, Turtles, Birds, Reptiles, Bobcat, Skunk, and Mammoth. Billy was a dominant discover of Protocetid whales within quarries in Cross, South Carolina providing as much material of this whale as anywhere housed in the Charleston Museum collections. The wide array of Protocetid finds included two baby Protocetids. He worked extensively with Dr. Al Sanders and was able to obtain collecting permits in South Dakota and Nebraska all with intention of expanding to the Charleston Museum collections. Billy would solicit members to collect with him out West and was adamant about abiding by all rules applicable to any federal, private or state land. Billy provided fossil presentations over the years and all were applauded such as those in Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Maryland, and Pennsylvania to name a few. Billy contributed to the fossil crab collection in the Charleston Museum of which over 30 new species were of his discovery. Billy collected specimens and provided professionals information or site access that led to publishing of these  Jamestown material provided to David J. Cicimurri on publication “On the dentition of Meridiania convexa Case (Myliobatoidea) an extinct Early Eocene ray from the United States  Stephen Godfrey, Robert Weems and Billy Palmer, “Turtle Shell Impression on a Coprolite from South Carolina, USA”  “New record of an extinct fish, Fisherichthys folmeri Weems (Osteichthyes), from the lower Eocene of BerkelEy County, South Carolina, USA  James L Knight, David J Cicimurri, and Robert W Purdy, “New Western Hemisphere Occurrences of Schizorhiza Weiler, 1930 and Eotorpedo White, 1934 (Chondrichthyes, Batomorphii)  Z Jack Tseng and Jonathan Geisler, "Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, The first fossil record of borophagine dogs (Mammalia, Carnivora) from South Caroline, U.S.A."  Beatty, Brian L., and Jonathan H. Geisler. 2010. A stratigraphically precise record of Protosiren (Protosirenidae, Sirenia) from North America and a discussion of stratigraphic and paleobiogeographic issues of Eocene marine mammal faunas. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie-Abhandlungen 258(2): 185-194. Churchill, M., Martinez-Caceres, M., de Muizon, C., Mnieckowski, J. and Geisler, J.H., 2016. The origin of high-frequency hearing in whales. Current Biology, 26(16), pp.2144-2149. o Specimens named after Billy included a Billfish, Echinoid, Turtle and Crab. Billy was instrumental in allowing fossil clubs to gain collecting access to Harleyville, South Carolina Quarries Giant Cement and Blue Circle.