Patricia “Pat” Palmer

Patricia Lynn (Corso) Palmer, 78, went home to be with her Lord and Savior on August 29, 2026, surrounded by the family she loved so deeply.
Pat was born on September 9, 1947, in Jackson Heights, New York. After her father passed away at the young age of 31 from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, she moved with her mother and little sister to Ohio, a decision that would shape the course of her life.
On July 11, 1969, Pat married her high school sweetheart, Arvel Lawrence Palmer. Their honeymoon was the beginning of a lifelong adventure together, as they traveled across the country to California, where Arv was stationed with the Navy. Over the following years, Pat and her growing family moved from Indiana to Cuba to California, before finally returning home to Ohio when Arv retired from the Navy.
Pat was a woman of both faith and intellect. She earned her bachelor’s degree in education from Kent State University and later a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Findlay University. She spent many years as a teacher before working with the Girl Scouts of America and then transitioning into Human Resources, from which she retired after a long career with Mattingly Foods.
Above all, Pat’s life was defined by her devotion to her faith, her family, her love of scrapbooking, and her enthusiastic support of her family’s involvement in Scouting. As a woman of deep faith, she lived out what she believed at North Terrace Church of Christ through mission trips, leading Bible studies, and volunteering countless hours for vacation bible schools and other church and community events. She never turned down a chance to serve others, and she passed that same love of service down to her children and grandchildren. Even in some of her final days in the hospital, she continued to minister to her family, admonishing them to “teach the children… teach the children that Jesus is the King.”
Pat was preceded in death by her husband of over 50 years, Arvel Lawrence Palmer, who passed in 2020; her parents, Hazel Ellen (Gearin) and Philip Anthony Corso; her grandparents, Myrtle (Householder) and Clyde Gearin, and Anna (Loiacano) and Phillip Corso; and her siblings-in-law, Nellie Poole, Eunice Donahue, Rachel Creekbaum, Clarence Wingo, John and Peggie Palmer, Flora Mae Tomaino, and George Huntington.
She is survived by her sister, Linda (Corso) Huntington; her children, Amy Palmer, Philip (Angel) Palmer, and Ellen (Matthew) Murphy; her grandchildren, Phoenix (Aislinn) Deinert, Anthony (Jessica) Palmer, Michael Murphy, Elijah Murphy, and Malachi Murphy; her great-grandchildren, Harmony, Gideon, and Eleanor; her nieces and nephews, Jan, Jenny, Brandy, Justin, and Katie; and many special great-nieces and great-nephews, cousins, and friends who were blessed to know and love her.
Pat’s legacy will live on in the wisdom she imparted to her many students, in the faith she instilled in her children, and in the memories she made with her sister on their many scrapbooking trips together. As long as her daughters share her smile, her son shares her servant’s heart, and her family and friends share stories of her many adventures, she will never be truly gone.
A Celebration of Life will be held 4:00 P.M., Saturday, October 24, 2026, at North Terrace Church of Christ, 1420 Brandywine Blvd., Zanesville, OH 43701.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to North Terrace Church of Christ or Girl Scouts of America, Heart of Ohio.