Richard K. Palmer, 86, of The Villages passed away January 9, 2015. He was born in El Dorado, Kansas on December 8, 1928. As a high school senior he met Ruth E. McDowell and they married four years later on August 27, 1950 at the First Methodist Church in Maryville, MO. Richard received a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Kansas State University in January 1951. While at Kansas State his accomplishments included winning the Steel Ring Award and membership in Phi Kappa Phi, the Engineering Council, ASME (president), Pi Tau Sigma (president), Sigma Tau and the Kansas State Engineer Staff. As a professional engineer, he worked for the Atomic Energy Commission, Westinghouse and McDonnell Douglas Aircraft in both the defense and aerospace industries. One of his career highlights was designing the guidance data transmission systems for NASA’s Mercury and Gemini space programs. His special interests were flying, Civil War history, golf, bowling, Sudoku, scuba diving and RV travel, by which he and Ruth visited all 48 continental states and Canada. Richard is survived by Ruth, his loving wife of 64 years; son, Randal Neill (Chris) Palmer; daughter, Kelly (Robert) Gritz; grandchildren, Jesse, Benjamin, Kathryn, Maxwell, Clayton, Melissa; great-grandchildren, Zachary, Tessa, Robert, Justin, Brandon. Visitation will be January 14, 2015 from 1 –  2 p.m. with a service to follow at 2 p.m., at Hiers-Baxley Funeral Services, The Villages.