Charles Palmer Neer

Charles Palmer Neer Jr, born on October 14th, 1935, passed away on May 24th, 2026. He was the son of Charles Palmer Neer Sr and Angela Matilda Cole Neer. He was born in North Carolina but spent the rest of his life living in the Baltimore area. He was a graduate of Calvert Hall High School and afterwards served in the United States Air Force from March 1955 - February 1959 and as a reservist for several years after. From there he entered the workforce and spent his entire career at AAI in Cockeysville where he became a skilled contracts manager. While working full-time, he also attended Johns Hopkins University at night earning his business degree. On July 1st, 1967, he married the love of his life, Jean Hurst Neer. They savored their 48 years of marriage before Jean passed away in December 2015. Together they welcomed their daughter, Sarah Elizabeth Neer Breck and their son, Charles Bruce Neer. They enjoyed many wonderful years living in their hilltop home in the woods of the Greenspring Valley. Palmer loved working outside, from landscaping and maintaining a large vegetable garden, to calling on his children to help him with the leaf pick up every Fall. His favorite holiday was Christmas, and he became a kid again every Christmas morning. He always made sure to take off the week between Christmas and New Year’s so he could play with the new toys. Palmer was a man of strong faith and attended St Charles Borromeo Church in Pikesville weekly. He enjoyed many summer family vacations in Stone Harbor, NJ and one special two-week family trip out West. He was so inspired by the natural beauty of the Grand Canyon that for years later he would say that he felt closer to God there than he ever had in any church. Palmer retired from his career in 2000 and believed that you have to not just retire from something but retire to something. At this time, he took up learning to play golf at The Greenspring Valley Hunt Club where he amazed himself one day by hitting a hole in one! He became a self-taught painter and developed his natural talents over the rest of his life. Many of his works hang in the homes of his family members and would often grace the halls at Mercy Ridge Retirement Community. He was an avid reader and the only gift he would ask for during the holidays would be Barnes and Noble gift cards. He fulfilled his dream of traveling to Europe for the first time in his 80’s and took three European tour adventures. As always, each trip was followed by creating a scrapbook of his photos that he enjoyed sharing with family and friends. Palmer was thrilled to see his family grow when his daughter married David Raymond Breck and welcomed two daughters, Jeanette Elizabeth and Katherine Rachel, and his son married Hyun-Jung Kim and welcomed a son, Christopher Nathan Neer. His family, along with his sister, Connie Neer Gourley (married to James Randolph Gourley Jr), his sister-in-law Sallie Hurst Worthington (married to Henry Miller Worthington), and many nieces and nephews were the most important things in his life. He loved finding funny greeting cards and sending them out to everyone for every holiday, special occasion, birthday, and anniversary. Palmer often said that the best decisions he ever made were to marry Jean, to have his children, Sarah and Charlie, and to move to Mercy Ridge. Here he enjoyed being with old and new friends, attending socials, and being the only man in his art class. Palmer was and will always be known for his wisdom and integrity, his generosity, his practical nature, his kind, gentle and calm personality, his sense of humor, his strong faith and his devotion to those he loved. A graveside service will be held on Friday, June 12th at 10:00 at Druid Ridge Cemetery: 7900Park Heights Ave, Baltimore, MD 21208. A reception will follow at 11:30 at Mercy Ridge: 2525 Pot Spring Road, Timonium, MD 21093. In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes memorial donations in honor of Charles Palmer Neer to the Alzheimer’s Association (https://www.alz.org/) or the American Cancer Society (http://donate.cancer.org).

Charles Palmer Neer

October 14, 1935 - May 24, 2026