Former Holladay City Councilmember and longtime resident Jim Palmer passed away on Jan. 25 after a long illness. Funeral services were held on Feb. 2 at St. James Episcopal Church in Midvale.

He served on the city council for several terms, working with both former Mayor Dennis Webb and current Mayor Rob Dahle, who has great memories of working with Palmer.

“First and foremost, probably his passion for the history of the city,” Dahle said. “His roots go back to his association through the Moyle family, who were some of the original founders of the city of Holladay. The Moyle farm is where the Cottonwood Club is now, so Jim had a real personal attachment to the city.”

Dahle said Palmer was incredibly bright and had a real knowledge of how municipal government functions.

“He brought that to the planning commission for, I think, six years, as well as eight years on the city council. He used that passion and knowledge and his administrative skills to shepherd the city through the early years of incorporation,” Dahle said. “A lot of what you see today has his handprints on it, like the Holladay Village Center, Knudsen Park and helping the community save The Cotton Bottom.”

Former Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams met Palmer when he first ran for office in 2000.

“Jim was always someone focused on the community and giving back, always happy to help out,” McAdams said. “And you always saw him at community events or gatherings or civic events. And he was one of the first people to help out and have an opinion and was willing to lend a hand to support the community. I remember as a candidate for mayor him grilling me and wanting to know what my plans were for serving his community.”

Through that process, McAdams said they developed a relationship where he came to respect Palmer as someone who put community first and was giving public service even before being elected to office. Then even in an official position, Palmer was still an advocate and passionate supporter for his community and giving back. 

“He came to me on many occasions, asking and advocating and asking for things that would benefit the community that he served,” McAdams said. “Jim was not afraid to do the hard work and to really get into the weeds and the details of something. When we were doing some work as it related to planning and conservation in the Cottonwood Canyons, Jim was very involved in work that was complicated, nerdy, nothing flashy–just like digging through how we were going to structure this and how we could create an approach that would ensure that good decisions were made about our canyons. Jim was very passionate about that, and just doing the hard work that created institutions and engagement from members of the public in a way that would ensure good decision making.”

Palmer’s oldest daughter Ashton said, “He was certainly always very green-focused. I just remember, he was always environmentally friendly, certainly, and wanted to be like a Boy Scout that left no trace. He loved being outdoors, and I recall when there was a plan to build a bunch of mega buildings in Holladay, he fought against it. He wanted to leave green space and big trees.”

One such project left a sole tree in an area of the city which Palmer fought to have preserved. Appropriately enough, he named the tree “Hope.”

“It's like, he was a very quiet guy, but always looking out for what was best for the city. He was really proud of that kind of stuff,” she said.

Palmer was a proud graduate of the University of Utah and an avid Utes fan, a member of the Crimson Club. As Ashton said, he was an avid outdoorsman, enjoying skiing, hiking, backpacking, fly fishing and camping. He was active in Scouting, having earned his Eagle as a youth and serving as assistant scoutmaster in Troop 411 for eight years. He also supported the work of the St. James Food Bank, and was treasurer of the Episcopal Diocese of Utah in the final months of his life.

Palmer is survived by his three children, Ashton, Madi and Preston, and their mother Terry, who remains involved in the local community. λ