Wanda Lou Bamer

Wanda Bamer (née Bittner) died surrounded by loved ones in her daughter's home in Columbus, Ohio August 10th, 2026. She was 86 years old.

Wanda was born in Akron, Ohio on July 8th,1940. Her parents, Irene and Mason Bittner, raised Wanda, the fourth of the 5 children, along with her older brothers, Sonny (Walter) and Buster (Leonard), and sisters, Sis (Clara) and Irish (Laurel). 

Wanda attended Kenmore High School. She married Philip Palmieri in 1956 and they were quickly blessed with a family of 4 children in 5 years - Skip (Philip), Debbie, Vicki, and Charlie (Charles). She described her courtship, marriage, and family life with Phil as the happiest days of her life. Phil developed Hodgkin's Lymphoma and Wanda cared for him in their home. Wanda became a widow at age 28 and was responsible for the well-being of her small children. She displayed impressive strength, unshakable resolve, and unmatched resilience. These are qualities Wanda embodied throughout her life. She went on to marry Joseph McIntyre, and the last child of the family, Autumn was born. Joe and Wanda were married for 13 years. Joe died of cardiac valve disease in 1982. She would go on to meet Tony Bamer several years later. Gun shy to marry again, they lived together 19 years before marrying. Tony had four children of his own. Over the years, their combined family grew tremendously. They loved to go on bus trips with friends, and travel with family. They celebrated many births, weddings and birthdays together. Tony died in 2017.

Wanda was artistic and creative. She loved to draw and doodle. She dabbled in ceramics, and nurtured a lifelong passion for crocheting. She blessed her loved ones with beautiful Afghans. She loved playing gin rummy and solitaire. She reveled in her Red Hats Club, Gardening Club, Bunko group, and Old Timers outings. Her best friends were Ethel Wolf, a friend since the age 4, and Dora Bond, her sister-in-law. Wanda enjoyed gardening, flowers, nature, and birds. She loved collecting snowmen, tins, and glass shoes. She was most happy with a very crowded home on Christmas Day. She was an excellent cook and baker. She was an avid Buckeye football fan. She enjoyed watching Cavs, Browns, and Indians games. She remembered everyone’s birthday and rarely missed a birthday party if invited.

She is survived by her sister Laurel “Irish”(Jim) Caslow: 5 grateful children - Skip (Shari) Palmieri, Debbie (Mark) Schaffer, Vicki (Ray) Lukosavich, Charlie (Mikki) Palmieri, and Autumn (Blaize) O’Brien: 3 step-children - Janice (Bernie) Gartner, David (Kathy) Bamer, and Tony Bamer. She was blessed with 17 devoted grandchildren - Tony, Rachel, David, Shelby, Jenny, Luke, Megan, Maeve, Brigid, Teague, Taryn, Christen, Matthew, Mark, Rachel, Emily, and Nicklaus; 14 loving great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. She opened her home and her heart to all.

She is preceded in death by her parents, her husbands Philip, Joseph ,and Tony, her two brothers, her sister Clara, and her step-daughter Linda.

Her life will be celebrated at Newcomer Funeral Home, 131 N. Canton Rd., Akron Ohio on Saturday August 29th. Visitation is 10AM-noon. A brief service will follow. All who knew and loved Wanda are invited to a chicken dinner immediately after at The Village Inn.

To view service online, click here.