A show of love — Hundreds remember couple

Hundreds of people gathered Monday in Kearns to remember a couple who died last week after their car got stuck in deep snow in a remote area of eastern Utah.

Reed and Loa Fae Palmer, both 74, got out of their car to walk for help but never made it. The service Monday focused not on how the West Valley couple died, but how they lived.

Bicycles of all sizes came to the service, but the reason children brought them was the same.

"To show that I do love him," said Andrew Jones.

"This is the kids' way of saying thanks," added Barbara Bird.

The funeral tribute was fitting, since Reed Palmer was known to neighborhood kids as the "Bike Man." He'd fix up bicycles and give them away to children.

"He gave me a bike," Josh Miller said, "and he fixed it up whenever I went over there."

"He gave it to me and it was in perfect shape. And I hardly ever needed to fix it," Jones said.

Volunteers helped the children tie yellow ribbons on the handlebars. Friends say it was the perfect way to honor a man and woman who gave so much.

After the funeral, the Palmers were brought out in caskets side by side, Reed's draped with a U.S. flag.

Reed Palmer served in the Utah Legislature from 1979 to 1983.

The church was packed with neighbors and friends wanting to pay their respects. It was an example of how Reed and Loa Fae touched so many people's lives. As family and friends mourned, the shiny bright metal of the bicycles with blowing ribbons nearby left an indelible image in many minds and touched many hearts.

"This gesture right here is just a small measure of what they have done for us," said Earl Miller, a friend and neighbor. "And if true be known, there would be thousands of bikes lined up here."

Emery County Sheriff Lamar Guyman said last week that the Palmers had been attending an LDS missionary farewell for a niece in Orangeville on Jan. 28 and attempted to drive home on state Route 29. But portions of the road are impassable in the winter and their Cadillac became stuck.

Their bodies were found Jan. 30 by a deputy who followed tracks in the snow leading away from their vehicle.

Jan. 25 marked the Palmers' 56th wedding anniversary. They are survived by their four children and more than two dozen grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

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E-mail: tpapanikolas@ksl.com