Michael T Palaima
Rank: Unknown
Entered Into Eternal Rest
2025-01-21
Michael Palaima Obituary
Published by Legacy Remembers on Feb. 11, 2025.
Michael Thomas Palaima
September 11, 1946 to January 21, 2025
On the morning of January 21, 2025, Mike Palaima died peacefully in the loving presence of his wife, Liz Cervio, in Santa Fe, NM. He is survived by his third wife, Liz, two daughters, MPA and Lindsay Hazen (née Palaima), son-in-law Griff Hazen, grandson Jovian Hazen, brother Tom Palaima and his wife Lisa Laky, stepdaughter Lyra Fiset and her husband Chris Olsen, stepson Orion Cervio and his wife Megan Bradley and their children, Coco and Leo Cervio.
Michael Thomas Palaima was born September 11, 1946 in the Lithuanian immigrant enclave on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio. His given names were those of his paternal and maternal grandfathers respectively. His father, Michael Aloysius (b 1916), worked for the United States Post Office from 1935 to 1973 and served with the First Cavalry during WW II.
During the post-war suburbanization of American cities in the 1950s, Mike's family moved to Broadview Heights, Ohio, southwest of Cleveland, into a house his father built with other ethnic neighborhood friends who were skilled in the building trades. The basement kitchen had a counter from a demolished corner bar that Mike's grandmother, Sophie, had collected in her wagon somewhere in the old neighborhood.
During his high school years, Mike made close friends with whom he stayed connected throughout his lifetime. He was a voracious and eclectic reader and loved music from all genres, starting with Elvis, Dylan, Zappa, the Dead, and eventually developing an ear for jazz greats like Miles Davis and Chet Baker.
In spring 1966, Mike joined the USAF and completed the rigorous training to become a combat controller. One of his friends from that time, Jim Lundie, writes, "Mike Palaima was a living dichotomy. He was a rough and rugged man's man, a master parachutist, a survivalist, a woodsman and an empathetic, compassionate soul who recognized that humanity is necessarily a composite."
Mike moved to California after he completed his military service, where he attended Long Beach City College in 1970 and earned an A.S. in Forestry from Shasta College in 1972, all on the GI bill. He worked in a great variety of jobs but the ones he most loved were as a crew boss for helicopter logging. Mike's honesty, integrity and deeply ingrained work ethic made him a valued employee and leader. His love of the outdoors and any and all challenges sustained him and supplied him with lots of colorful stories throughout his life.
He later lived in Washington state and in Alaska, where he and his second wife, Kim, raised their two daughters.
His last career change was as maintenance foreman for Polk Oil in New Mexico. He and Liz married in 2004 (as he said, "saving the best for last"), and they landed in Lamy, New Mexico, outside Santa Fe, in 2005. Mike got involved with local activism through the 285 Alliance, a grassroots group guided at that time by Roger Taylor. Roger says, "Mike was genuinely everyone's friend, a good heart, a welcoming smile, spoke his piece forthrightly, stood up for what he believed, made space for those who were different, and made an impact on the world around him."
Mike discovered Burning Man sometime around 2010 and he returned annually for eleven years, soaking up every experience, including a few that were decidedly well outside of his comfort zone!
His daughter Lindsay notes, "Dad expressed his affection and pride by always being present for me. He was always available. He never had a shortage of questions about what I was up to, a curiosity about my motivations and interests. Over the last few years, we were texting daily. He seemed so bemused with being a grandparent, doting on Jovian and calling him our "little emperor". As a preemie, Jovi was still living in the hospital when Dad first saw him. He leaned over and started softly talking to him and holding his hand with a tenderness and quiet I have rarely seen in anyone."
His brother Tom says, "Every time we visited, we brought along our catching mitts, a bat and baseballs and hit and shagged flies. We had rare arguments, but they blew over. I am so grateful that my brother has passed peacefully and beloved from this world, his last breaths taken with Liz, the woman who knew and loved him."
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