Rev. Ronald Whelan Palmer

Ronald Whelan Palmer, 86, of Lexington, South Carolina, passed away on Friday, January 8, 2021, in Lexington, South Carolina.Ronald was born on September 2, 1934, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the son of Whelan Whited Palmer and Rosalie Taylor Palmer and the older brother of Burton Palmer. After graduating from Georgia Military Academy in 1952, Ronald attended the University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa) from 1952-1954 and received his B.A. from Howard College (now Samford University) in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1954.Ordained in November 1954, he received an M.R.E. degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1960, with later additional graduate theological studies at the Seminary in 1966, 1968, and 1970.Ronald married Sherry Ann Parks of Chattanooga on June 6, 1959. After serving as Vice President of his father’s business, the Rutland-Tatum Bakery in Birmingham, from 1957 to 1958, Ronald entered the active ministry, serving as Assistant to the Pastor of First Baptist Church, Charleston, Indiana, from 1958 to 1959; as Minister of Education and Music at First Baptist Church, Lebanon, Kentucky, from 1959 to 1960; as Associate Pastor and Minister of Education of West End Baptist Church, Birmingham, from 1960 to 1963; as Associate Pastor of Southside Baptist Church, Birmingham, from 1963 to 1973; and as Minister of Education/Associate Pastor of First Baptist Church, Jacksonville, Florida, from 1973-1976. In May 1976, Ronald became Pastor of Cedar Hills Baptist Church in Jacksonville, where he served until March 1981, when he became Associate Director of the Sunday School Department of the Florida Baptist Convention.In 1984, he became Director of the Sunday School Department of the South Carolina Southern Baptist Convention, and in 1992, became Team Leader of the Church Development and Sunday School Growth Team of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, a position from which he retired in December 2000. Ronald’s religious education and missionary activities took him to the Middle East and Europe, South Korea, and Brazil. His writings were published in Sunday School Leadership Magazine, Adult Leadership Magazine, Proclaim, and `Til Millions Know. Ronald was active in the YMCA, Downtown Executive Club, and Southside Civitan Clubs of Birmingham, and in the Kiwanis Club of Jacksonville Beach, while his hobbies included photography, golf, fishing, and cooking.Ronald is survived by his loving wife of 61 years, Sherry Ann Palmer of Lexington, South Carolina; by his children Walter Whelan Palmer (wife Cristina Pinheiro Palmer) of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Beverly Ann Humphrey (husband David Humphrey) of Newton, North Carolina, and Philip LuVern Palmer (wife Annette Palmer) of Camden, South Carolina; his grandchildren Justin Page, Caleb Deppe, Austin Palmer, Heather Palmer, Alexis Smith, Parker Palmer, Shiloh Humphrey, Emelie Humphrey, Flavia Alessandra Pinheiro, Alexandre Junior Pinheiro, and his brother Burton Palmer (wife Jan Palmer).A memorial service will be held at the Bush River Memorial Gardens, 5400 Bush River Road, Columbia, Saturday, January 23, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. Due to the COVID-19 virus, we require everyone to wear a mask and social distance. The family requests that memorial donations be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (www.jdrf.org).