By Nicole Hamilton
Enquirer staff writer

ERLANGER - Barbara J. Lehmkuhl Palmer used her good-natured spirit and happy disposition to get her through an unthinkable tragedy.

On September 3, 1990 - Labor Day that year - her husband, Robert Palmer, and their two children, 3-year-old son Casey Lee Palmer and 2-year-old daughter Robin Nicole Palmer - were shot and killed by her ex-husband, John Bundy. Bundy had been hospitalized for mental illness.

Her ex-husband entered their Elsmere home and shot at and killed the children. Her husband, an Elsmere police officer, shot back at Bundy, killing him.

Palmer died from his wounds a few days later.

Barbara Palmer, who witnessed the shootings, died in her sleep at her home Saturday from a possible heart attack. She was 56.

"She was such a happy person. Of course, after what happened she stuck close to the family. She really cared more about others than for herself," said her son, Jesse Bundy of Florence. "She was happy-go-lucky."

Raised in Elsmere and Covington, Ms. Palmer attended Holmes and Lloyd high schools.

The homemaker spent the remainder of her life caring for her family and friends.

After her husband and children were slain, she pressed for stricter gun laws and a law requiring family members of mental patients to be notified about their release.

Ms. Palmer was a member of the American Policemen Hall of Fame and Citizens of Police Survivors.

Survivors include another son, John Eric Bundy of Del Ray Beach, Fla.; three sisters, Carol Trimble of Villa Hills, Debbie Kidd of Crittenden and Teresa Cook of Las Vegas; three brothers, Bernard Lehmkuhl of Hollywood, Fla., John Lehmkuhl of Burlington and James Lehmkuhl of Florence; mother, Marcella Lehmkuhl of Erlanger; and a grandson.

Visitation will be 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at Linneman Funeral Home, 30 Commonwealth Ave., Erlanger.

Mass of Christian burial will be at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Pius X Church, 348 Dudley Road, Edgewood.

Burial will be in Highland Cemetery, Fort Mitchell.

Memorials can be made to National Multiple Sclerosis Society of Northern Kentucky, 4460 Lake Forest Drive, Suite 236, Cincinnati, 45242.

E-mail nhamilton@enquirer.com