Catherine Palmer
Thursday
18
August

Visitation at Funeral Home

9:00 am - 10:00 am
Thursday, August 18, 2016
Kelley Funeral Home
125 Pitman Ave.
Pitman, New Jersey, United States
Thursday
18
August

Prayer

10:00 am
Thursday, August 18, 2016
Kelley Funeral Home
125 Pitman Ave.
Pitman, New Jersey, United States

Final Resting Place

Green Mount Cemtery
Front St.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Obituary of Catherine Birkenheuer Palmer

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Catherine Palmer, 85, of Mantua, New Jersey (formerly of Berlin, NJ) passed away at home on the morning of August 13, 2016. She joins her brothers Henry and John, both her parents, her grandson Joseph Martin, her sister-in-law Julie, and her best friend Clara Rundstrom. She was belovéd mother of Stephan Palmer, James Palmer, Christine Meyers and Kathryn Schaffer, and mother-in-law to William Schaffer Sr., cherished aunt of Henry and Pamela Birkenheuer, proud great aunt to Henry and Laura Birkenheuer (and great-great aunt to Timmy). Catherine left a legacy of loving and caring for anyone who was in need of family and became a motherlike figure to many, including Sharon Parisi and Christina Paquette. She was the grandmother of seven, Tina Crerand, Tina Louise Parker, William Schaffer Jr., Danielle Cooke, Melissa Marshall and Elli Lissa Palmer, and grandmother-in-law to George Parker, Melissa Schaffer, Stephen Cooke and Glenn Marshall. She was great-grandmother, GG, to eleven great-grandchildren who were her pride and joy as they came into the family toward the end of her life, Nathan, Meghan, Ariana, Kylee, Brian, Liam, Elliot, Maranda, Juniper, Georgia, Madelyn, and her great-great-grandson Flynn. Catherine was born on February 4, 1931 in Philadelphia, to Henry Birkenheuer and Catherina Birkenheuer (Bertrand), immigrants from Timisoara, Romania. She grew up in the neighborhood around her childhood home and father's barber shop on 5th and Girard Avenues in Philadelphia and attended St. Peter the Apostle School and graduated from St. Peter's Business School. She moved her family to Berlin, NJ and raised her children as a brave and self-sacrificing single mother. Catherine was a hard worker who went on to build a career for herself starting at the Mrs. Paul's seafood packing factory in Philadelphia, after which she worked in the Human Resources Department of Ancora Psychiatric Hospital. She retired happily to travel, craft, enjoy her coffee and tea, read books, watch Paul Newman and Marlon Brando films, indulge in a piña colada when possible, and most importantly – to help her family whenever she could, in whatever way she was able. She was a devout Roman Catholic who instilled strong morals in her family through her unwavering faith. She lived out the last several decades of her life living with her youngest daughter Kate and son-in-law, Bill, surrounded by the people who loved her most. She will be greatly missed. We love you, GG. Friends may greet the family after 9am on Thursday in the Kelley Funeral Home, 125 Pitman Ave, Pitman, NJ 08071. Prayer service will be at 10am. Interment will be in Green Mount Cemetery, Front St, Philadelphia, PA.
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