Ethel May Palmer

Ethel May Palmer beloved wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother, died in her sleep in the morning hours of Thursday, November 28th, 2024, in Sacramento, California. She was 86. A public memorial service for Ethel May will be held at the East Lawn Cemetery and Funeral Home at 9189 E. Stockton Boulevard in Elk Grove, California on Tuesday, December 17, 2024. A public viewing period will start at 9:00 am. and a memorial celebration of her life will start at the East Lawn Chapel at 10:00 am. Ethel May was born on April 10th, 1938, in Parkin, Arkansas, to her father Adlee L Payne and mother Murdis Irene Payne (née Griffis). 

She was preceded in death by her parents, daughter Lydia Brooke Tyler Booth, her sister Mabel Lee Payne, brother Adlee Payne Jr., her husband Thomas J. Palmer, son Charles Edward Tyler, and brother George Frederick Payne. Ethel May is survived by sister Mary Irene, brother Rudolph, sister June Evelyn son Archie Tyler III, son Zachary Scott Tyler; Zachary’s children: Dorene, Dominique, Zachary Jr., Tiffany, Britany and Kishi; Kishi’s mother Dianna; Granddaughter Mae Tyler; Granddaughter Dallas Booth, Grandson V’nacio Booth; and daughter Phil Tyler-Cox, son-in-law Edward Cox and Phil’s daughter Brooke Leigh Tyler. She is also survived by numerous great grandchildren, cousins, nieces and nephews. 

Growing up in Parkin, Arkansas, Ethel May worked the fields picking cotton, and attended the Baptist Church on Sundays. As the oldest of three boys and four girls in the family, coupled with the declining mental health of her mother, Ethel May also took on most of the tasks of raising her siblings. Eventually, the family relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area. At age 17, Ethel May married her first husband, Archie Tyler, Jr. eventually setting up a long-term household in Long Beach. From that marriage they had five children: Archie III, Zachary, Charles, Lydia and Phillis. The marriage to Archie ended in divorce in 1971. Around this time, she relocated to Northern California and settled down in Sacramento. Six years later Ethel May remarried to Andrew Marin, ending in divorce after about ten years. By the mid-1980’s Ethel May set out to return to Long Beach to be with Thomas James Palmer (a.k.a. Tommy), the man who was the neighbor across the street from the earlier times in Long Beach. Ethel May and Tommy stayed together until his death in 2020.

Throughout her life, Ethel May became a mother figure to her extended family and a devout Christian. She once wrote about how she wanted to “set an example for all to follow for her reparations always kept between God Almighty and herself.” Further she wrote, “I want my life to shine—to reflect Jesus, to bind my soul close to him, to lead others to bow to the love of our God; because he is love; and is high above on his throne; waiting for us to come home…”