Chenoweth’s Mom Dies Of Cancer

Ardelle Palmer, the mother of U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth, R-Idaho, died of cancer at her Grants Pass, Ore., home on Thursday. She was 80.

Palmer was under hospice care after being diagnosed with cancer a year ago. Her husband, Dwight Palmer, died nearly three years ago.

Chenoweth arrived in Grants Pass from Washington, D.C., shortly after her mother’s death. Her chief of staff, Keith Rupp, said the second-term lawmaker would remain in Oregon through the coming week.

Palmer’s funeral is scheduled for Tuesday in Grants Pass.

The Palmers lived in the small farming community of Burlingame, Kan., when Chenoweth was born in 1938. The family moved to Culver City, Calif., during World War II and both of Chenoweth’s parents worked for Douglas Aircraft. The family bought a dairy farm in Grants Pass after the war.