[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 176 (Tuesday, December 9, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2503-E2504]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   ON THE PASSING OF WAYNE T. PALMER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. LINCOLN DAVIS

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, December 8, 2003

  Mr. DAVIS of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to 
one of the 4th Congressional District's finest citizens. On Saturday, 
November 29, 2003, Wayne T. Palmer, of Sparta, Tennessee, passed away 
at his home.
  Wayne Palmer was not a master of business or of politics. Mr. Palmer 
was a man of meager means but overwhelmingly generous spirit. He was a 
man who cut a giant figure in his community through the devotion of his 
time and energy to the causes he loved.
  Wayne Palmer served as a volunteer leader in the Boy Scouts of 
America for more than 35 years. During that long tenure, he served 
variously as Assistant Scoutmaster and Scoutmaster of Troop 175 in 
Sparta, as the camping chairman of both the Upper Cumberland and Black 
Fox Districts, and as a leader of the camping committee of the Middle 
Tennessee Council. Significantly, these are just a few of the roles he 
fulfilled during his many years of service to Scouting.
  Mr. Palmer was honored for his guidance to young men and leadership 
in scouting repeatedly. He was awarded the Long Rifle Award for his 
leadership in both the districts he served. Mr. Palmer was honored with 
the Silver Beaver Award--the highest honor accorded adult leaders by 
the Middle Tennessee Council--for his service to the council. In 
addition, he was a Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow--
Scouting's Honor Society--and was repeatedly honored for his service to 
the Wa-HiNasa Lodge, including receipt of the Founders' Award and Josh 
Sain Memorial Award.
  Mr. Speaker, if we're lucky, we encounter few people in life who have 
the kind of positive influence over the lives and maturation of young 
men that Wayne Palmer had. He was a man utterly devoid of self-interest 
and focused almost entirely on the education and improvement of the 
lives of those boys and young men who had the tremendous good fortune 
to be guided by his wisdom--be they Boy Scouts (his first and lifelong 
love), Little League baseball players or otherwise. It is rare--very 
rare indeed--to find a person who acts altruistically, who places the 
interests of others consistently ahead of his own, and who is truly 
selfless. Wayne Palmer was just such a person, and the lives of many 
Tennesseans are far richer for having known him.
  Wayne Palmer was a great teacher and a great man. The lessons he 
taught were lessons for life. Of that, I have no doubt. Wayne Palmer 
taught as much or more by example, as he did through more common 
instruction. Mr. Palmer walked the talk. He never asked anyone to do 
anything he was not himself willing to do. He was, in the eyes of so 
many, the very embodiment of that pole star of principles, the Scout 
Oath and Law. Mr. Speaker, Wayne Palmer was for many Tennesseans the 
Great Scoutmaster of legend and myth.
  White County and the Fourth Congressional District of Tennessee lost 
one of those rare bright lights on November 29 when Wayne T. Palmer 
passed from this mortal coil. Accordingly, I rise today to express my 
deepest sympathy to his wife, Jan, and his son, Garrett, on

[[Page E2504]]

their tremendous loss. We honor his memory here today so that they will 
know that we all share their loss. Wayne T. Palmer was a great 
Tennessean, a man devoted to his family and to the education of young 
people, and an exemplary American citizen.
  Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege as a Member of the People's House to 
honor his lifetime of service to others.

                          ____________________