Alfred M. “Terp” Palmer Jr., 74, the former co-owner of a snack food distribution business based in Fairfax County, died Feb. 5 at his home in Savannah, Ga.
The former Falls Church resident had bladder cancer, said his wife, Pat Palmer.
Alfred M. ‘Terp’ Palmer Jr., business owner
In 1974, Mr. Palmer and a business partner bought Paul Baker Inc., which supplied 7-Eleven and other convenience stores in the Washington area with potato chips and other snack foods. They sold the business to the Pennsylvania-based Utz Quality Foods company in 1990.
During the 1960s and early ’70s, Mr. Palmer was a sales manager for N.J. Sullivan, a manufacturer of metal products located in Sterling.
Alfred Monroe Palmer Jr. was born in the District and raised in Falls Church. He was a 1956 graduate of George Mason High School and attended Milligan College in Tennessee and American University.
His memberships included the Jaycees, the Lions Club and St. James Catholic Church in Falls Church. In the 1970s, he chaired the Falls Church parks and recreation board. He had lived in Savannah since 1998.
Survivors include his wife of 52 years, Pat Sullivan Palmer of Savannah; four children, Mary Ellen Rupe of Chesapeake, Va., Alfred M. “Monty” Palmer III and Patrick Palmer, both of Oak Hill, Va., and Catherine Mirabile of Seattle; a brother, Lawrence Palmer of Gainesville, Va.; a foster brother, Dr. Rashid Abdu of Canfield, Ohio; and 11 grandchildren.
— Emily Langer
