Palmer remembered fondly by his friends, family Maine Swim Hall member died Saturday

BANGOR – Norm Palmer, a swimming coach and official for more than 30 years, was remembered Monday as a wonderful man, father and a true friend and contributor to swimming and diving at all levels in Maine.

Palmer, a member of the Maine Swimming Hall of Fame, died at around 1 a.m. Saturday at Bangor’s Eastern Maine Medical Center, his son Ritchie Palmer said Monday. Norm Palmer was 78.

Ritchie Palmer said his father went into the hospital Dec. 20 for a procedure for his pacemaker. He developed an infection so the procedure was delayed, but it is believed that Norm Palmer’s heart gave out.

Palmer was remembered Monday night at Bangor High School’s 36th annual alumni meet with a moment of silence.

“To me he was just Dad, always on the pool deck, always there,” Ritchie Palmer said during the alumni meet at Husson College in Bangor. “I didn’t realize how much of an impact he had on everyone else until something like this happens. People have been coming out of everywhere saying they’re sorry.”

Bangor High coach Phil Emery, who knew Palmer for 35 years, recalled the days after Norm Palmer’s wife Irene died in 1998. Norm Palmer was scheduled to officiate a college meet a few days after Irene Palmer’s death and decided to work the meet after initially wanting to stay away.

“Later [that week] he said, ‘You know, I’m going to go up there and work. Those kids on the team are my friends and that’s where Irene would want me and that’s where I want to be,'” Emery said. “That was the way he was.”

Palmer coached at the Bangor and Old Town YMCAs, helped start the Maine Swimming Officials Association, and was a founding member of University of Maine Swimming Endowment that was established to help prevent the sport from being eliminated.

In 2000, the National Federation of State High School Associations awarded Palmer its Distinguished Official Award for the Northeast region. He retired from officiating in 2001, but spent time at the pool anyway, watching his grandchildren compete for Bangor High School.

He was also the president of Bangor East Side Little League Baseball and coached peewee basketball in a YMCA league.

Palmer served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and worked for Bangor Hydro for more than 20 years until his retirement in 1988.

Gifts in Palmer’s memory may be sent to Bangor High School Swimming, care of Phil Emery, 885 Broadway, Bangor, 04401.

“Norm was a true friend of swimming, especially Bangor High School swimming,” Emery said told the crowd Monday night. “… His many contributions to swimming and diving will be missed.”