Obituary of Della Marie Critelli Palmer

Della Marie Critelli Palmer passed peacefully in her home in Essex, Connecticut on November 23rd 2014. She is survived by her husband of 57 years, William L. Palmer, Jr, her brother Frank L (Pete) Critelli of Red Lodge, Montana, her three children: daughter Mary Elizabeth (Betsy) Palmer Post and husband James M. Post of Newtown, Connecticut; son William L. (Tad) Palmer, III and wife Shannon of Newport Beach, California; and daughter Muir Palmer of San Francisco and New York City; and her four grandchildren James M. Post, Lydia M. Post, Adele V. Palmer, and William L. Palmer, IV. She also leaves her faithful golden retriever, Annie. Della was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on November 27, 1935. Her parents were Frank Louis Critelli and Mary Elizabeth McKillop Critelli. She attended schools in Mount Lebanon, PA and Bucknell University, class of 1957, where she was a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority. Moving to San Francisco with her husband in 1961, they later settled in Newport Beach where they were long-time residents of Lido Isle. Della was very active in National Charity League and, with her husband, in the Newport Harbor and Lido Isle yacht clubs. In recent years she and her husband returned to their long-time summer home in Essex, Connecticut to live full time. Services will be private and in lieu of flowers donations can be made to the Shoreline (CT) Soup Kitchens and the Yankee Golden Retriever Rescue. To share a memory of Della or send a condolence to her family please visit www.rwwfh.com . Arrangements by the Robinson, Wright & Weymer Funeral Home in Centerbrook, Connecticut.