Dominic John Palmere

Dominic John Palmere stepped into the loving embrace of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on Saturday, September 19, 2015. Born on December 20, 1929, in Ravena, New York of immigrant Italian parents, he was a proud first-generation American. He served the country he loved by joining the Air Force during the Korean War, and always kept an American flag flying in front of his home. While stationed in Biloxi at Keesler Air Force Base, he met the love of his life, Miss Joyce Hilton, a native Biloxian, during choir practice at Nativity BVM, and they married on May 4, 1952. They returned after Nick’s service in the Air Force, and he worked for a while rewinding electric motors with his father-in-law, Ed Hilton, at Mr. Hilton’s business, Dixie Electric, on Elmer Street in Biloxi. He went on to work at Keesler Air Force Base in Cold Storage and retired from Civil Service as Mechanical Foreman at Keesler Medical Center in 1994. Nick loved his adopted hometown of Biloxi, and he and his family lived on Ridgeway Drive from 1960 until 2014. Nick kept their house and lawn immaculate, and many friends still will say that he had the nicest house in the neighborhood. He was forever working at something, and there was always a project on the bench in his workshop. There was nothing he could not do, and if by some miracle he came across something he couldn’t, he always knew who could. There was nothing Nick would not do for his family. He always made sure they had the best, and everything they could possibly want or need. Nick was a devout Catholic and a member of Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church. He was also a past member of the Biloxi Elks Club 606, and a life member of the VFW Post 2434. He is preceded in death by his father, Stefan Palmieri; his mother, Annunziata Nunziato; his brother Louie; brother Frank and his wife, Esther Neilsen; his sisters and brothers-in-law, Raphael and Ralph Fori, Jessie and Stots Fasoldt, Rosie and Ralph Zampella; his father-in-law, best friend and mentor, Jerome Edward Hilton, Sr.; his mother-in law, Angela Romeo; brother-in-law, Joseph Alfred Hilton; and former sister-in-law, Virginia Casey Pino. Left to cherish and honor his memory are his wife, Joyce Hilton Palmere; his oldest daughter, Cynthia Palmere, and her husband, Joseph Hashagen; his youngest daughter, Donna Palmere Fonseca, and her husband and Nick’s buddy, Gilbert Fonseca, who was like a son to him; his only grandchild and namesake, Dominic John Palmere and his wife Samila Weaver Palmere; his sisters, Madelyn Smith, Mary Dudley and Stella Hartel; brother-in-law, Jerome E. Hilton, Jr., and his wife Betty Jean Gondolf; many, many nieces and nephews near and far; and all his friends. The family would like to thank all the nurses of the sixth floor at Merit Biloxi for their excellent care of not only Mr. Palmere, but of his family as we waited with him, Maggie of Compassus Hospice, Dr. Musqui for his advice and guidance, Dr. Paul Matherne, Dr. Lydia Latour, and all those who came to the hospital to sit with us and comfort us. Most of all, we would like to thank Almighty God for allowing us to have this most amazing man in our lives for so many years as husband, father, grandfather and friend. To God is the glory. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Mr. Palmere’s name to Our Lady of Fatima’s St. Vincent de Paul Society or St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church on Thursday, September 24, 2015 at 12:00 p.m. Family and friends may visit 30 minutes prior. A graveside service will follow at Biloxi National Cemetery. The Howard Avenue Chapel of Bradford-O’Keefe Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.