Joanne Melton Palmer

Joanne Melton Palmer, 82, of Gulfport, MS died Saturday, March 13, 2010, in Gulfport. Mrs. Palmer was born October 2, 1927, in Shaw, MS, to John Martin Melton and Wawice Dean Melton. She graduated from Shaw High School as salutatorian and attended Hollins College in Roanoke, Virginia. While attending the University of Mississippi, she met her husband of fifty-one years, the late Owen Thackara Palmer, Jr., a Gulfport attorney for whom a city park has been named. Mrs. Palmer was an active community leader on the Gulf Coast for half a century. She was particularly devoted to St. Peter’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, where she taught Sunday school for 17 years. She served on the vestry, and designed the gardens at both the former and current church locations. Dedicated to horticulture and gardening, Mrs. Palmer served as president of Four Seasons Garden Club and president of the Garden Clubs of Mississippi. She was a Landscape Consultant for over thirty-five years, designing both residential and commercial gardens on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. She studied under John Brookes in England and in La Napoule, France. Following Hurricane Katrina, she served on the committee responsible for the restoration of Jones Park. She also served on the Board of the Salvation Army and the Crosby Arboretum. Mrs. Palmer is survived by her daughters, Genie Palmer of Yazoo City, MS, and Jan Palmer Noll of Atlanta, GA and Jan’s children, Elizabeth Noll Cunningham of Atlanta and Harold Owen Noll of Denver, and her great-grandchildren Ethan and Evan Cunningham. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m., Tuesday, March 16, 2010, at Bradford O’Keefe Funeral Home, 15th Street, Gulfport.. The funeral service will be 11 a.m. Wednesday, March 17, at St. Peter’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church. Friends may visit from 10 a.m.until service time. Private interment will follow. The family prefers memorials to the landscape fund at St. Peters-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, 1909 15th Street, Gulfport, MS 39501, or to Warren-Yazoo County Mental Health Association, P. O. Box 820691, Vicksburg, MS 39182 Attn. Mr. Steve Roark.