Visitation Wednesday and Thursday,
Funeral Thursday in Mt. Juliet at 2 p.m.
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Visitation and funeral arrangments have
been set for Palmer Maphet, 19, a freshman member of the Tennessee
Tech University men’s cross country team from Mt. Juliet,
Tenn., who was killed Wednesday (June 16) in an autombile accident
near Portland, Maine.
Visitation will be Wednesday from 2-8 p.m. at the Bond Memorial
Chapel in Mt. Juliet, and Thursday from 12-2 p.m. at Hermitage
Church of the Nazarene. Funeral services will be conducted Thursday
at 2 p.m. at Hermitage Church of the Nazarene, 4151 Saundersville
Road, Old Hickory, Tenn., with Pastor John Maphet, Pastor Shane
Tarter and Paster Rondy Smith officiating. Interment will follow at
Hermitage Memorial Gardens.
Flowers accepted and memorials may be made to Youth Summer
Missions at Hermitage Church of the Nazarene, P.O. Box 111,
Hermitage, TN 37076.
Arrangements by Bond Memorial Champel, N. Mt. Julliet Road and
Weston Drive, Mt. Juliet, TN. Phone (615) 773-2663. Obit Line is
(615) 641-2663.
Palmer is survived by his father, Marvin Maphet, and mother,
Christy Carroll, brothers Justin and Braden Maphet, sisters Kelsey
(Jordan) Smith of Westminister, Colo, and Alyssa Maphet, and
grandparents Gene and Ethel Carroll of Kingwood, Texas.
Palmer was serving on a team sent out by Tennessee Baptist Collegiate Ministry to minister at Laconia Motorcycle Week in Laconia, N.H. They were en route to the event when the accident occurred.
"Palmer was so excited about going to Maine this summer to do
mission work," said Tony Cox, TTU track & field coach. " We
talked about it many times throughout the spring semester. He was
looking forward to meeting new people and running on the great
trails for which Maine is famous. He was really excited about next
year's cross country season.
"Palmer was a great young man and very popular with the team," Cox
added. "He was a very high energy and enthusiastic person, and
loved being a part of this team. He could be very funny or
very sincere, and moved between those two extremes with amazing
ease and frequency.
"He liked a quote my wife gave him by Saint Francis of Assisi:
'Preach the Gospel everyday. If necessary, use words.' Palmer
lived his faith by example and was an inspiration to all of us.
He will be missed, but his memory will live with us
forever."
“It was extremely sad and tragic to receive the news of
Palmer’s death,” said TTU Director of Athletics Mark
Wilson. “The thoughts and prayers of the entire Athletics
Department are with Palmer’s family, as well as the family of
the track & field program.”
According to a news report by the Portland (Maine) News, a Toyota
Tacoma pickup truck, driven by Paula Haddow, 63, of Standish,
Maine, crossed into the lane and struck the car in which Maphet was
a passenger.
"Palmer Maphet was an exceptional Christian man," said Bill
Choate, director of Baptist Collegiate Ministries for the Tennessee
Baptist Convention. "He will obviously be missed by so very
many."
Maphet was very involved in the BCM at Tennessee Tech, said BCM
campus director John Aaron Matthew, who posted comments on
Facebook.
According to Matthew, Maphet had served as team leader of his
freshman spiritual growth team and this past spring began a new
role on the upperclassmen discipleship team. He also was "preparing
to reach his dorm for Christ as a community group leader,”
said Matthew’s posting.
"Palmer lived a life that was not wasted because he lived his life
running hard after Christ in an effort to know God and to make Him
known," Matthew observed.
Matthew asked for prayer for the Maphet family and for his summer
mission team in Maine: "Please pray that Palmer's life still
continues to bring glory to God even in death."