William E. “Bill” Palmer October 25, 1934 - November 5, 2023

William E. “Bill” Palmer, 89, of Emmaus, passed away Sunday, November 5, 2023, in his home.

Bill was born in San Jose, CA in 1934, and a few years later the family moved back to New Jersey where he was raised in Woodbridge Township.  Bill is a 1955 graduate of Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ, with an Engineering degree Cum Laude. In 1960, by completing three years of night school, he earned his Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at Stevens, majoring in Heat Transfer.  Also in 1960, he became a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of New Jersey, one of his proudest accomplishments.

Bill has extensive experience in all areas of management and he is a seasoned marketing man with significant sales accomplishments He has traveled a great deal domestically and some internationally for both business and pleasure. He also designed his home of 30 years in Palmer Township, PA.

Bill holds 4 patents relating to heat exchangers, and has written, delivered and published articles about automated material handling systems and steam surface condenser operation.

After graduating from college, Bill was employed by The Ingersoll-Rand Company for 22 years, holding various engineering and management positions. His work focused on heat exchangers and centrifugal pumps. This was followed by five years with Ecolaire Heat Transfer Co. as President of their $40 million per year company.

From 1984 until 1996, Bill was the Chief Operating Officer of McGinley Mills, a $30 million per year weaver of acetate goods and manufacturer of decorative ribbons.During these years, Bill served on the corporate team of United Way, and also on the Easton Hospital Advisory Board for three years. And from 1982 to 1993, Bill served as a Director on the board of Valley Federal Savings & Loan.

In 1995, Bill joined the Easton Rotary Club, beginning volunteer work that’d become his third great passion in life.

In 1996 he retired from working for anybody else.

In June of 1998, Gail, Bill’s wife of 41 years passed away. They raised two sons, followed by four grandchildren.

In 1999, Bill met newly widowed Yvette and they married soon after. Yvette also was active in her Allentown West Rotary Club and in the Rotary district. The two of them held Rotary district and zone positions right through Bill’s year as Governor in 2010-2011. Both served on the faculty of the Rotary Leadership Institute and facilitated training meetings over a ten year period.

In 2000, after Yvette retired early, they formed a small business consulting LLC called “CFO & Stuff.” They had many clients over the next ten years, but reserved much time for Rotary, family, and travel. In May of 2009, CFO & Stuff, LLC received the Entrepreneurial Advocate award by Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

In December 2011, Yvette passed away. Bill kept busy serving both the Allentown West Rotary Club as its weekly bulletin editor and the five-county Rotary district as its Paul Harris Society Coordinator, District Secretary, District Finance Chair, and Editor of the District Governor’s monthly newsletter.

He also continued his love of travel, embarking on several cruises with family well into his eighties.

A celebration of Bill’s life will be held Saturday, November 11th at 11:00 A.M. in the Stephens Funeral Home, Inc. 274 North Krocks Road, Allentown. Friends and family may call from 10:00 – 11:00 A.M. on Saturday at the funeral home. www.stephensfuneral.com.

Contributions: In lieu of flowers, please donate to ShelterBox at www.shelterboxusa.org, a charity that Bill strongly supported.