John Michael Palmer

Jack Palmer died on February 21 at the age of 71. A memorial service will be held on July 31 in Jordan Valley, where he was born. Services will begin at 1 p.m. MDT.

Jack Palmer moved his family to Central Oregon in 1970 and made his home in Redmond for over 20 years. After retiring from riding race horses in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, California, New Mexico and Canada, he became the Racing Secretary for the State of Oregon.

He operated Tree Top Ranch and Tumalo Farms in the Sisters area.

Jack and Darlene, his wife of 51 years, retired from the horse racing industry in 1997 and moved to Apache Junction, Arizona, where he lived out his life enjoying his family and friends. Jack is survived by his wife, Darlene; his daughters, Jody Parmenter, Judy Wormington and Justy Haney; his son, Chad Palmer; his nine grandchildren, Shane, Rone, Jackie, Jessie, Jason, Chase, Chelsea, Justin and Colby; and his eight great-grandchildren. Jack is also survived by his oldest sister Jeri Snowball.