G. Palmer Pardington

The Rev. Dr. George Palmer Pardington III was an Episcopal priest and a leader in religious education. Palmer, fourth in a line of clergymen, was born July 12, 1939 in Mobile, Alabama, and grew up in Houma, Louisiana, where his father, the Rev. George Pardington, was the rector of an Episcopal church, and his mother, Mary England Pardington, helped in every aspect of parish life. Palmer held a bachelor's degree from Washington & Lee University, two master's degrees from General Theological Seminary and a doctorate from Graduate Theological Union and the University of California, Berkeley. Shortly after Palmer was assigned to his first parish, that church was chosen as a location for the 1967 film Hurry Sundown. The church was used for filming the ordination of The Rev. Clem De Lavery, played in the film by Frank Converse, and Palmer had an uncredited role as a priest at the ordination. Palmer moved to Portland, Oregon, with his family in 1978 to be Episcopal chaplain for Portland State University and four other colleges. After he retired in 1997, he continued to serve on the staff of several Oregon churches, including serving as interim rector at St. Matthew's in Eugene, and most recently as an associate priest at St. Stephen's Episcopal Parish in downtown Portland, where, among other duties, he chaired the Building Operations Committee, and for many years diligently held together a coalition of finance, legal and architectural experts in what often seemed a futile effort. Throughout his career Palmer worked for peace, human rights and, in his words, healing "a broken and suffering world." He trained mentors in the Education For Ministry program, and served in leadership roles for many organizations, such as the Oregon Episcopal Peace Fellowship and Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon. Even as his health declined due to heart problems and a lung disease called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, he did yoga every morning, traveled to Costa Rica and Israel, and enjoyed reading and discussing theology and philosophy. He played cello, piano and organ. One of the highlights of his final years was singing in Carnegie Hall with the Oregon Chamber Singers. Palmer died at home on July 26, 2017, aged 78, survived by his wife, Anne Simpson Pardington. two adult children, and three grandchildren.