This column serves as a spotlight, highlighting the everyday people who work and live in Callaway County. The Fulton Sun takes a moment with someone who is not usually featured in the news but is just as instrumental in making our community the strong and beautiful place we all know and love.
Matthew Palmer is serving his second stint with the Callaway County Sheriff's Office, having returned to the department in 2011. Palmer worked as a domestic violence investigator for more than 5 years before being promoted in 2017 to lieutenant and chief investigator.
Palmer is a Callaway County native and graduated from Fulton High School in 1989. After serving as a missionary in Argentina for two years for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he worked as a 911 dispatcher for more than a year at what was then the Callaway County Emergency Operations Center.
Palmer then graduated in 1993 from the Law Enforcement Training Institute at the University of Missouri. He followed that by working as a certified law enforcement officer at the Callaway County Jail, before becoming a road deputy and chief investigator with the sheriff's department.
Palmer left the department in 1996 and joined the Fulton Police Department as an officer until spring 2000. He then ran for sheriff, but lost to Dennis Crane. Palmer owned a trucking company for 10 years before selling it in 2011 to return to the sheriff's department.
Palmer and his wife, Lori, who teaches English at North Callaway Middle School in Auxvasse, have been married 27 years. The couple have four children - Thomas, Julia, Christina and Nathan.
Q: What was your first job?
I was 14 years old and I worked at Blattner's Clothing after school and on Saturdays. My job was to clean - the floor, the ashtrays, the bathrooms and the displays.
Q: Who inspires you most?
My parents and my (late) father-in-law. My dad taught me how to treat people fairly. My mom doesn't know what it's like not to work - she is the hardest-working person that I know. She also taught me how to be charitable.
My father-in-law didn't know a stranger and he never judged anybody. He treated everybody the same - he was kind to a fault. He was a very hard worker and was dedicated to his family.
Q: What have you done in your life that has been the most fulfilling?
Being a husband and father. Work is work, and we do a lot of good things (at the sheriff's department), but nothing brings me more happiness and joy than being a husband and father.
Q: What is something you are proud of that you have been recognized for?
When I was a domestic violence investigator, I was awarded for my services by CARD-V (Coalition Against Rape and Domestic Violence) in 2014. (The job) is a very difficult role, for a lot of reasons, and it (the award) helped me realize that survivors felt like I was doing something meaningful to help them.
Q: If you can do any job in the world, what would it be?
I've always had an interest in aviation and I would love to fly for a living. It's just something that's always been an interest of mine. Any chance I can get in an airplane, I will. It's something that sparked in me since the time I was a child.
Q: What is a job you wouldn't want to do?
If it was legal work, I would do it to provide for my family. I drove a truck for 10 years and I wouldn't do it again unless I had to - it's a tough life.
Q: What is your favorite thing about Callaway County?
It's home - I was born and raised here. Whenever I travel, when I hit that sign entering Callaway County, I'm home. There are good people everywhere, but the people here are amazing. Collectively, we have a tremendous community.