Westport Point- Raymond C. “Cap” Palmer died peacefully at home on Tuesday, April 9, 2013. He was 97. Born on January 8, 1916 in Fall River, Raymond was the son of Frederick W. and Etta Jane (Allen) Palmer. He was also the loving husband and constant companion of 42 years to Melanie Vohnoutka Palmer.
Raymond was a lifelong resident of Westport and spent most of his life on the water. As a young boy he sailed and fished with his father and grandfather. Shortly after graduating from Westport High School in 1936, he began a long career as a hired captain of private yachts and fishing boats. He took many boats throughout the waterways of the Cape and Islands and all along the Atlantic coast from Maine to Florida. He regularly ran a boat at the Block Island Bill Fish Tournament.
During WWII, he served in the Atlantic in the Coast Guard, training new officers in small boat handling. He also worked at F. L. Tripp and Sons Boatyard and Marina in Westport, where he could often be seen shinnying up a mast.
“Cap” loved spending time on the water fishing, tending his lobster pots, dredging for scallops, or just going for a sail on his catboat the Gannet. He also enjoyed refinishing a good piece of furniture, growing vegetable and perennial gardens, and watching the Red Sox.
He was predeceased by his two brothers Frederick W. Palmer, Jr., and Albert A. Palmer. He is survived by his beloved wife, their daughter Susan Palmer and her husband Derrick Sumereau of Albany, NY, as well as several nieces and nephews.
Family and friends are invited to a memorial service on Saturday, June 8 at the Westport Point United Methodist Church at 1:00 P.M. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Westport Shellfish Propagation Fund, 816 Main Rd., Westport, MA 02790.