Palmer Kronen

Longtime Missoula pharmacist Palmer M. Kronen died of natural causes Monday, April 21, 2014, at The Springs of Missoula.

He was born May 23, 1923, in Plentywood, one of twins born to Nils and Mary Kronen. They had an older sister, Jenet, from Mary's first marriage. Nils homesteaded a wheat ranch near Westby. When Palmer and his sister Norma were age 9, their father died of pneumonia. Mary married Otto Stadig, who was a wonderful stepfather. Her three children called him Dad. Otto took Palmer around to various businesses to show him what different jobs involved, and Palmer decided early he wanted to be a pharmacist.

After graduating from Plentywood High School in 1941, Palmer went to Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., then attended the University of Montana. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II (1945-1946) and was on Okinawa when the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After the war, he was stationed in Japan until his discharge from the service. He never forgot the hungry children begging at the garbage cans for the soldiers' leftovers; most of the GIs took more than they could eat to feed those children.

Returning to Montana, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in pharmacy in 1950. That same year, he married Esther Mayer, a teacher, and they spent the next four years in Kalispell, Great Falls and Missoula, where Palmer worked in different pharmacies (including Peeks Pharmacy in Missoula). In 1954, they opened their own store, Palmer's Drug.

In 1959, they adopted a daughter, Katherine Marie (Kate) Kronen, and in 1961 a son, John Douglas Kronen. Both children worked at Palmer's Drug part time, although neither of them chose to be a pharmacist. Kate is the slash financial specialist of the Montana State Forester's Office in Missoula, and John is a philosophy professor at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn.

In 1971, the Palmers moved the store into the Gibson discount store on Southwest Higgins Avenue, where it was first known as Gibson Discount Pharmacy. When Gibson's went out of business, Palmer renamed the business Palmer's Drug.

After Esther was diagnosed with cancer, in 1983 Palmer sold the drugstore to Jim O'Connor, although he continued to work there and the store remained Palmer's Drug. Esther died in 1987. In December 1989, Palmer married Anne Waltermire, a nurse at St. Patrick Hospital. In 1994, Palmer's Drug celebrated its 50th anniversary. A few years later, Palmer and Anne retired.

Palmer served on several boards, including the Montana Board of Pharmacists, Community Medical Center Board and the Missoula Elementary School Board. He was past president of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Lutheran Social Services No. 13 Adoption Agency and the Sentinel Kiwanis Club. Professionally, he won Montana Pharmacist of the Year in 1970, the Bowl of Hygeia award for Montana from the A.H. Robins Pharmaceutical Co. in 1975 and the Family Pharmacist Father Ravalli Good Samaritan Award in 1984. He was a member of Sons of Norway Lodge Normanden No. 424 and enjoyed working at their Viking booth at the Western Montana Fair.

He loved to bowl and belonged to two senior leagues for many years after his retirement. He also loved traveling; he took his family to New York City, Virginia, Florida, California, Nevada and in 1973 to London, Paris and Norway. He and Anne went to Hawaii and enjoyed attending Broadway shows in Spokane. He was an enthusiastic Griz football and basketball fan.

He was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Esther; sisters, Jenet Stevens and Norma Hopper; brothers-in-law, David Stevens, Harold Hopper and Vernon Mayer; sisters-in-law, Alice Martin and Effie Van Wichen; and stepson, Jim Waltermire. He is survived by his wife, Anne Waltermire-Kronen; stepdaughter, Marsha King (Corning, N.Y.); his children, Kate and John; and several cousins, nephews and nieces.

Visitation will be 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, April 29, at Garden City Funeral Home. A memorial service will be held in early July at St. Paul Lutheran Church. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the American Cancer Society.
Read Palmer Kronen's Obituary and Guestbook on www.missoulafuneralhomes.com.