Veterans Advocate Albee Palmieri Dead at 64

Albert "Albee" Palmieri, a 35-year Fair Lawn resident and the borough's American Legion Commander, died Tuesday at age 64.

A community volunteer and tireless veterans advocate who served in Vietnam, Palmieri was a member of Catholic War Veterans Post 1076 of Fair Lawn, the Disabled American Veterans and a supporter of the Adopt a US Soldier organization, according to his obituary on NorthJersey.com.

He visited wounded warriors at the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., cooked meals for seniors at the American Legion hall in town and visited the New Jersey Veterans Home on a regular basis, Mayor John Cosgrove said.

Palmieri was also a steadfast supporter of the Adopt-A-Soldier Platoon, and served as co-chef for multiple Adopt-a-Soldier dinners. He and his wife, Grace, were honored for their community service at the most recent Adopt-a-Soldier Platoon Dinner Dance fundraiser and council declared Jan. 12 "Albee and Grace Palmieri Day" in the borough.

In addition to his involvement with veterans issues, Palmieri also served on the Fair Lawn Planning Board from 2003 to 2009, and more recently, on the Bergen County Flood Advisory Committee. 

According to his NorthJersey.com obituary, Palmieri worked for 33 years as a data manager with AT&T before retiring in 2002. He subsequently worked as a copy operator for the Fair Lawn School District, Board of Education president Michael Rosenberg said.

"Anyone that knows Fair Lawn probably ran into Albee Palmieri," Rosenberg said at Thursday's board meeting. "He was the American Legion in town. I mean, when you go to the American Legion, he's always there...It's a sad day for Fair Lawn."

Palmieri is survived by his wife, their three children and two grandchildren, his mother and his three siblings.

The Palmieri family will receive relatives and friends Friday at Vander Plaat-Caggiano Funeral Home from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. 

A funeral mass is scheduled for Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at St. Anne Church, where he was a parishioner. Burial will follow at George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Legion Scholarship Fund or Adopt a US Soldier organization.

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