Elisabeth Palmer 1931-2013 Tyringham - Elisabeth Palmer, 82, of Cliffside Park, New Jersey and Eberstadt, Germany, died Tuesday, June 18, after a sudden illness. Born in Himberg, Austria, on March 30, 1931, Lisa was the fourth child of Count Ferdinand von Gatterburg and his wife, the author Juliana von Stockhausen. Lisa attended the village school in Eberstadt, the local high school, and the Convent of the Ursulines in Freiburg, Germany, until World War II closed schools. Continuing her studies after the war in Heidelberg at the Englisches Institut, she earned a diploma as a translator and interpreter for English and French. After a stint as an au pair in England, Lisa was hired by the District Attorney for the American Forces in Mannheim, Germany. While there, she met and then married Walter deKay Palmer of New York and Tyringham, who was stationed with the Army in Mannheim. They moved to the US in 1952. Lisa and Kay lived in New York and Tyringham, and she was employed for a time at the Rockefeller Foundation, until his job brought them to Rio de Janeiro in 1972. Upon her return to New York, Lisa began working in the arts. She started the Latin American Art Department at Christie's International auction house in New York and led the department until her retirement as vice president in 2000. In her last decade Lisa invested great energy in the restoration of her ancestral home in Germany, as well as writing, giving lectures and traveling. Her second husband, John Breckenridge Brandreth, died on April 23, 2013. She was also predeceased by her first husband, Kay Palmer, her daughter Francesca, and her brother Egi Count Gatterburg. Lisa is survived by her children and their spouses Tonio and Barbara Palmer of Tyringham and Helena and Stefan von Gatterburg of Speicher, Germany, her sister Angela von Korff of Port Washington, NY, brothers Hunold Count Gatterburg of Karlsruhe, Germany, and Franz von Gatterburg of Retz, Austria, grandchildren Caroline, William and Henrik Palmer of Tyringham and Damian, Therese and Francesca von Gatterburg of Speicher, Germany, as well as many nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be on Wednesday, June 26, at 1pm at Tyringham Union Church. Burial will follow in Tyringham Cemetery. There will be no calling hours. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Tyringham Union Church.

Service Details

Wednesday, June 26th, 2013 1:00pm, Union Church in Tyringham

Interment Details

Tyringham Cemetery