Durham, NC – Anthony Palmieri died on November 30 in Durham, NC at the age of 87 from complications of Parkinsons and Lewy Body Dementia.
Tony was born on January 4, 1938 in Boston, Massachusetts. His parents, Lorenzo and Ermalinda Palmieri, emigrated from the Abruzzo region of Italy in the 1920’s. Tony, a Bostonian to the core, graduated from Boston Latin School in 1955 and Northeastern University in 1960.
Despite being a proud Bostonian, Tony had a spirit of adventure. After graduating from college, he moved to California where he worked as a mechanical engineer. Then in 1962 he joined the newly formed Peace Corps and spent two years teaching secondary school in Nigeria during which time he hitchhiked across the desert to Sudan. On the way home from the Peace Corps, Tony travelled in Europe stopping in Italy and England to visit friends and relatives.
In 1965 after a long and meandering courtship that spanned three continents, Tony and Mary-Ann DeVita, also a Boston native and a Peace Corps Nigeria alumna, were married. In 1970 they moved to New Salem MA where they raised their family. Tony used his training as an engineer and his interest in building to establish his own company, West River Builders, a carpentry and home-building business. Tony’s legacy includes many handcrafted homes and additions in western Mass.
Tony was also very active in New Salem affairs on the fire department, the finance committee and two terms as a selectman. Never one to shy away from a cause he considered just, he could be combative, but if you were his friend, you were his friend for life. Tony also had a love for family hosting huge Thanksgiving dinners for over 30 years and was a beloved uncle in both the Palmieri and DeVita families. In 2024 Tony and Mary-Ann relocated to Durham, NC to be near their family.
Tony is prededeased by his mother and father and his sister Blonda. Tony leaves behind his wife of 60 years, Mary-Ann, his sister Domenica, his brother John, his daughter Gioia and her partner Everett Rand, his daughter Crissy and her partner, Michael Levine, his son, Dave and his wife Sandra Martinez-Zuniga, his granddaughter Irena Rand, his grandsons Ari Martinez Palmieri and Kai Zuniga Palmieri as well as many beloved nieces, nephews, friends, and relatives in Massachusetts, the US, England, and Italy.
Tony will be buried in the New Salem Center Cemetery in the spring of 2026.
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