PALMER, LE ROY D. -- A man unusually posted in all that pertains to his field of activity is Le Roy D. Palmer, whose natural endowments together with a pleasing personality make him very acceptable, as manager of the Orange County Fruit Exchange, to a large circle of busy and progressive folk. He was born in Sedalia, Pettis County, Mo., on September 13, 1880, the son of L. D. Palmer, a native of Ohio, who settled at Sedalia and was in the employ of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway as engineer. He married Marietta C. Emery who now lives at Los Angeles. Mr. Palmer died in 1900 at Sedalia leaving his widow and four children.
After finishing with the grammar and high schools of Sedalia, Le Roy went into a railroad office at St. Louis, that of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad, and afterward entered the employ of the Government in the Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory, now Oklahoma. It was a land office, where lands were allotted to the Indians; and he was the enrollment clerk.
In 1909 he resigned and came to Los Angeles, and for five years he was employed by the California Fruit Growers Exchange. He arose from a clerkship in the claim department to be assistant sales manager, and then he resigned. He was in charge of both the Southern and the Northeastern markets, a position of responsibility affording continued experience of a valuable nature; and it is no wonder that when D. Eyman Huff resigned as manager of the Orange County Fruit Exchange in 1915, Mr. Palmer was tendered the position. Just what this compliment means may be estimated from the fact that this exchange is made up of eleven different local associations, and in 1919 alone it shipped 3,200 cars of fruit. It is, therefore, one of the largest fruit exchanges in Southern California.
At Tahlequah, Okla., in 1904, Mr. Palmer was married to Miss Georgia Trent, a native of that section but the representative of an old Eastern family, and a daughter of Dr. Trent, a well-known surgeon of the U. S. Army, located at old Fort Gibson. Two children were born of this marriage--Madalyn and Marjory. Mr. Palmer is a popular member of Santa Lodge No. 794, B. P. O. Elks and Orange Lodge No. 293, F. & A. M. Orange may be proud of such public-spirited citizens as Mr. Palmer, and the Orange County Fruit Exchange, in particular, is to be congratulated on the captain at its helm.
