This is the obit for John Plamer, Father of Aunt Agnes Palmer Siegrist, wife of Uncle Calvin Siegrist of El Reno, OK.

From the book "Family Histories of Canadian County Oklahoma", (CCHBA, 1987)


John William Palmer was born Nov. 1, 1901 to Elvira Estella Mayfield and Winfield Scott Palmer in a dugout on his parents' farm located 9 miles north and 4 ½ miles east of El Reno, the 8th child of 10 children. His father died when John was 16. The 10 Palmer children were students at Liberty School.
John married Ruby Heckes, daughter of Fred and Mary Todd Heckes, Jan. 3, 1926. They farmed the "home place" (Winfield Palmer's) until John's mother died. John bought two 80's one mile east of the Palmer farm. They moved to a farm located in the same quarter section as the Racine School. In the early years of their marriage, his brother, Herbert, a student at Edmond, lived with them one year. Later, he served 2 terms as State Representative.

John was Chairman of the Board of the Okarche Coop for 20 years. He and his family were members of the Mt. Zion Church. John liked people and enjoyed visiting with them. He was full of fun and enjoyed a good laugh. When his daughters were small, he often brought home candy for them. The girls woke up in the morning discussing whose turn it would be to dividie the candy or go for the mail. Their rural mail carrier was Mr. Nickerson. If he was ill, his wife delivered the mail. In the summer's heat, the girls walked barefoot to the road to wait for the mail carrier. John continued to bring gifts to his daughters, even as they became older. Once at a cattle auction, someone was selling fringed table clothes and he bough one for each daughter.

John always looked forward to riding his horse in the 89er parade. He had a favorite red satin western shirt and hat for these occasions. He still owned a lap robe purchased for his buggy from a mail order catalog when he was a young, single man. It was of a heavy, horsehair-like material. The black, rubber lining made it waterproof. The color of the outside material was gold with a bird dog in the center. The dog's eye was a clear glass with a black pupil.

John and Ruby Palmer's 3 daughters are: Agnes (Siegrist), Anna Belle (Wiedemann), and Norma Jean (Schroeder).

John and Ruby moved from their farm to El Reno in November 1955 and built a home at 1500 W. Walnut St. They joined the Wesley United Methodist Church.

John William Palmer, a life-long resident of Canadian County, died in El Reno July 27, 1973, and is buried in El Reno Cemetery.

Ed's Note: I can still remember living across the road from Johnny S.E. of Okarche, and how fun it was to go there and how big and wonderful I always thought he was! We... Oscar, Elinore, and I lived on the east side of the road, they lived on the west. And getting the mail was a big deal in those days!!