Anna Elizabeth Gorton Palmer, a nurse who worked for two decades at the East Hampton office of the Suffolk County Health Department, died on Dec. 7 in Beverly Hills, Fla. She was 94.
Mrs. Palmer retired as a nurse supervisor in the department’s Patchogue office and moved with her husband to Florida in 1998.
She worked for the county from the late 1970s through 1997, and before that was a private duty nurse in East Hampton, a school nurse teacher at the Board of Cooperative Educational Services’ Rosemary Kennedy Center in Wantagh, and a charge nurse from the 1950s through the late 1960s.
Born in Brooklyn on Nov. 15, 1929, to Roland John Gorton Sr. and the former Irene McBride, she grew up in Bay Ridge, graduated from St. Brendan Diocesan High School in Brooklyn, and went on to the St. Vincent Hospital School of Nursing, graduating in 1950 as a registered nurse. She earned her bachelor’s degree from St. John’s University in Queens in 1954, a school nurse teacher certificate from the New York State Department of Education in 1968, and a master’s degree in public health administration from Long Island University’s C.W. Post campus in 1982.
On Nov. 21, 1953, she married Thomas Palmer. From 1959 to 1973, they lived in Bellmore, raising their seven children there. In 1973, after Mr. Palmer joined the law practice of Goebel & O’Donnell in Amagansett, the family relocated to East Hampton. The younger five children graduated from high school here.
The family kept a summer residence in Sharon, Conn., from 1964 through 1980, and had a vacation home at Island Pine Villas in Grand Cayman, British West Indies, from 1985 to 2019.
Mrs. Palmer was a member of Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in East Hampton and Our Lady of Grace Parish in Beverly Hills, serving as a eucharistic minister at both. She was a member of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Knights of Columbus, Council 6168, in Beverly Hills, and of the Council of Catholic Women. She was recognized with the St. Jude the Apostle Award from the Diocese of St. Petersburg in 2007, the service award from Our Lady of Grace Church in 2011, and a service award and a Lady of the Month award from the Knights of Columbus Ladies Auxiliary.
Mrs. Palmer implemented and organized the food pantry/share program at Our Lady of Grace Parish in Florida and was dedicated to caring for the poor, having been a missionary to Haiti. She had traveled to the Caribbean, Europe, New Zealand, and on cruises, and enjoyed visiting with friends and relatives, taking particular joy in her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren.
Her husband died in 2011. She is survived by her children: Thomas Palmer Jr. of Texas, Daniel Palmer of East Hampton, Maureen Palmer of Torrington, Conn., Edward Palmer of North Tonawanda, N.Y., James Palmer of Hernando, Fla., Patricia Sylvester of Millsboro, Del., and Francis Palmer of Ocean View, Del. She is also survived by nine grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, six great-great-grandchildren, and a brother, Roland J. Gorton Jr.
A service is to be held on Friday, Jan. 12, at Our Lady of Grace Parish in Beverly Hills. She will be buried at Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell.
Her family has suggested donations in her memory to a local food pantry.
