Moultrie, Georgia – Estelle Mary Palmer Houseal, 89, of Moultrie, Georgia, passed away on Saturday, May 2, 2026, at Colquitt Regional Medical Center.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 AM, Saturday, May 9, 2026, at Cobb Funeral Chapel, with the Reverend Tony Crosby officiating. Interment will be at Cobb-Suncrest Memorial Gardens.

The family will receive friends from 10:00 until 10:45 AM, Saturday, at Cobb Funeral Chapel.

Casketbearers will be Jimmy Owens, Wayne Grandy, Shannon Ritchie and Bharat Patel.

Born August 7, 1936, Middleburg, Vermont, she was the only child of the late Floyd Syples Palmer and the late Mary Beulah Williams.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her stepfather, Forrest Allen; grandparents, Rosanna Colangelo Palmer and Lloyd Palmer; and husband, Reverend James Emlon Houseal.

She is survived by many friends, including Jimmy and Judy Owens, Oralia Martinez, Wayne and Gonnie Grandy, Bharat Patel, Jerry and Martha Malone, Sandra Matthews, Marie Banville, Onita McGee, Mary Ingalis, Jane Trono, Shannon Ritchie and Melissa and Dick Gayl. She is also survived by her furbabies, Charlie, Little Bit, Angel, Sam, Mae, Baby Girl; and her parakeet, Rocky.

Mary was raised on a small farm in Vermont by her grandmother. She went to Vergenes Grade School and High School, where she played basketball and wrote student news. Following high school, she worked in a drug store, managing the soda fountain. Being very active in church, she sang in the choir and was active in the church youth group as well as the women of the church.

In 1960 she met Jim Houseal. They married April 15, 1961, in Vergenes, Vermont. Being a Navy wife was new to her. But she learned it, did it and loved it. She worked at Holy Ghost Hospital for twelve years, and later worked as a radiographic technician. She then worked for the American Cross, serving as Chairman of the Volunteers, being over 32 military stations and 2000 volunteers.

Mary then became a missionary with the Methodist Church, traveling to Costa Rica, Mexico and Cuba. Next came her involvement with the Federated Guild Women’s Club, where she served a one year term as President, visiting all clubs in the district, followed by the Pilot Club, in both Tifton and Moultrie.

Following her husband’s military service, he became an ordained Methodist minister, having charge of twelve churches. Up until his passing on March 9, 2018, they were married for 58 years, and she served faithfully by his side the entire time.

Memorial contributions in her memory may be made to the American Legion, Post 324 or the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Moultrie, Georgia post.

Cobb Funeral Chapel has been entrusted with arrangements.