Kathleen J. Palmer (Kathi), 76, passed peacefully at home to join her dearly loved grandson Chancelor and family in heaven on Sunday, December 27, 2020. She was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on June 11, 1944 at home to the late Harold and Grace (Christopherson) Howen.

Soon after her family then moved to the small town of Popple River Wisconsin on a farm, where she helped on the farm and developed her love of music listening to her father play the banjos and singing and listening to the Grand Ole Opry on the radio.  She was a straight "A" student and never missed a day of school. She strived to do her very best always and tried to make people happy.  This would be a theme that ran through her whole life. She graduated from Laona High School in 1962.  That very day, she packed everything that she owned and went back with her uncle and aunt to live in Green Bay,  Wisconsin where she ended up being a lifelong resident.

About a year after arriving in Green Bay, she met and married my father and then they had me, Wenzday. They divorced five years later. She used to say the only 2 good things he ever gave me was Wenzday and the love of car travel.  We had been all over the United States traveling all around when I was a baby. In fact we stayed in Mexico for almost a month when I was three months old, but we will get back to the car travel in a moment.

My Mom was really known for 5 C's; Church, Car travel, Country Music Concerts, Camping and Carmel Corn.

Faith was very important to her from young on. She loved the gospel songs and hymns and knew them all by heart!  She found a church that she really liked and joined Grace Lutheran Church where she still is a member. Over the years she has served the church in many capacities, she was on boards, as a youth leader, and helped with the food pantry. She had the most beautiful singing voice especially when she was singing hymns, people were just stunned by her soprano voice! You could hear her singing out the songs louder than anyone else. She had Tungsten strong faith, no tragedy, no death, no situation shook her faith; it just got stronger.  When I was younger and we would travel around, she wanted me to have access to other religions, so that I could choose for myself.  We would open up the phonebook wherever we were to churches in the yellow pages close our eyes and pick one, call and ask if we could join them and they usually always said yes and we did.  I learned so much. Most churches were so inviting, warm, friendly; even inviting us for potlucks lunches after church, wanting to know about us. We realized there were a lot of religions out there and they were all beautiful, and we are all very much the same.  I think it's one of the reasons why she was so open and loving to so many different people because she understood them.  She started every morning reading her Bible and went to bed every night saying prayers for everyone she knew.

My mom worked at many different places. She worked at Northwest Engineering until it closed.   She worked the concession stand at the Packer games for over 20 years for Christmas money, and actually worked the ICE BOWL and loved to tell the story about how they had to use hammers to bust open the ice to get the beer out of the tub's and when you opened up the beer it automatically froze! She also worked for Kelly Services. A few long term job assignments she stayed for a year or more, but was still looking for a better assignment and finally she was sent to Fort Howard. They liked her so much they offered her a permanent job! Through every single one of these places that she worked she made lifelong friends!  Northwest Engineering was over 50 years ago and she's still friends with people that she worked there with!  Once you were her friend you were a lifelong friend.  There wasn't anything that she wouldn't do for you.  Not many people can say they have had friends for 50-25 years and even if she hadn't seen you in 10 years, it was like you picked up right where you left off like no time has changed. Everyone who ever met her loved her and she loved everyone back. If she didn't like you there was some reason, she was a great judge of character!  All of my friends just called her Mom because that's how I introduced her and she mom'd everyone. She was the one that everyone went to when they had a problem or a concern and didn't know how to talk to their parents.

Now back to car travel. We traveled all over this country back-and-forth, even Canada, seeing the sights and the things America had to offer all my life. We often traveled with grandfather, her dad and she often traveled with her sister Joanne and her husband Davey to visit family and friends.  Now here comes another C.  If you can not only be listening to country music in the car but actually be going to SEE  it as well then she was really in heaven.

My mom was a Country Music Queen. I could sing any 60-90's country song ever recorded probably.  I was going to concerts when I was 3. Nothing made her heart fuller besides church than going to a country festival or a music venue or seeing one of her favorite artists perform.  If she really loved you no drive was too far!  This is also where she met a WHOLE new group of dear friends that she would travel with and go to shows with.  Nashville was her Disneyland.  In fact, on our big trip of a life time with several of our family members going down to Florida to Disney, we stopped in Nashville so she could show us all around. She was country when country wasn't cool!

Next C is camping. She loved to camp, to be up north with our family having fun with the kids fighting over who was going to sit on her lap first.  It was her joy, watching everyone grow up. In fact her and her sister Joanne spent an entire summer just camping moving from one lake to another! I am so glad they had that.  Everyone always talks about the way she smelled and how they missed it when she wasn't around, it was campfire and peace and security one great niece told me the other day.  I would have to agree!

The last C is for Carmel Corn

She was famous for it! If you were on the list you were golden, that stuff was heaven in your mouth. Usually she would take it in to the businesses that she had grown very fond of and to the owners and over the years and they had become friends, or friends or people that she just wanted to give some kindness to. I don't think it lasted 20 minutes after she walked out the door it was that good! Everybody looked forward to it! And if she loved you and your business, she was your very best word-of-mouth advertising ever! She would talk you up to everybody that she knew!

She's just one of those people that everyone will miss, gone way to soon.  I love you Mommy!

She was preceded in death by Her Beloved Grandson Chancelor H. Jakob Orion Neher; her parents Harold and Grace Howen Sr.; her Father and  Mother-in-law Hayward and Lilian Umbehaun;  brother  Harold (Bud) Howen Jr.; brother Neil Howen; sister Ruth Fellon; brother Gary Howen; niece Sena  Howen;  niece Stephanie Peterson; niece  Cindy Brooks; nephew Todd Howen; nephew Connor Peterson.

Survived by her daughter Wenzday ( Shawn) Neher; sister  Joanne (Davey) Belland; sister-in-law  Vicki Howen; many nieces and nephews she loved like her own and  helped raise;  her great and great,  great nieces and nephews; Tina Betzinger who has been like a  2nd daughter to her for over 40+ years, thank you  for all the love; Andy P  thank you for being a part of our crazy family, holding us  up and together during these times when we need it, and going the extra 20 miles for us. She loved you like a son! Kim Szela, thank you for being our family's Angel and helping us out, it means so much to us. Your friendship has meant the world!  Pat Cazares, for your life long friendship and love! Thank you.

There will be no funeral service. A celebration of life will be done this summer at a later date. Online condolences welcome at www.PfotenhauerFuneralHome.com

Cards for the family can be sent to Pfotenhauer Funeral Home, 1145 Cardinal Lane, Green Bay, WI  54313. Please provide your return address and mark on the envelope to the Palmer family.