Melanie Palmer

1949 - 2025

Melanie Palmer
01/23/1949 - 07/08/2025
In Loving Memory of Melanie Marie Palmer
January 23, 1949 – July 8, 2025
Melanie Marie Palmer, a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and friend, passed away peacefully in her Mill Valley, California home on July 8, 2025. She was 76 years old.
Born on January 23, 1949, in Pittsburgh, California, Melanie grew up in South San Francisco and attended Mercy High School, where she began shaping the bright, witty, and compassionate spirit that would define her life. A devout Catholic with a radiant personality, Melanie brought warmth and grace into every room she entered.
In 1972, Melanie married her lifelong sweetheart, Dr. Robert Fields Palmer, a neurosurgeon she met while she was working as a unit secretary at San Francisco Children's Hospital. Their love story was one for the ages-Robert converted to Catholicism so they could marry in her hometown church, on the same day their firstborn was baptized. Their life together was one of deep faith, enduring love, and shared adventure.
Melanie and Robert raised their family in the beauty of Mill Valley, CA, where their home was always open to laughter, music, and the joyful chaos of family life. She was a devoted mother to six children, including the late Robert Fields Palmer II, and is survived by five loving children: Anne Marie Peters of Mill Valley; Robert Fields Palmer III and his wife Alexandra Palmer of Mill Valley; Georgia Palmer Asiano and her husband Jim Asiano of Point Arena; Margaret Bernadette Olivieri and her husband Edward Olivieri of Skokie, IL, and James William Palmer and his wife Lauren Palmer of Mill Valley.
Melanie was the proud and adoring grandmother of Emily and Charlie Peters, Robert Fields Palmer IV, Hawkins Irwin, Faye Ellen Palmer, Caledonia Palmer, James J. Palmer, Lola Olivieri, Pomelina Palmer, Fiona Olivieri, Dominic Palmer, and Tyson Palmer. Her grandchildren were the light of her life and the joyful audience for many of her kitchen dance parties and stories from around the world.
She is also survived by her cherished siblings: Frank Soares and his wife Susan, Donald Soares, and Bonnie Seck and her husband Brian Seck, along with their children Keegan and Kelly. She was the loving daughter of the late Eugene Frank Soares and June Marie Hork.
Melanie was a lover of rock 'n' roll, vodka tonics, and the art of a well-set dinner table. She thrived in intimate gatherings, brought life to every room she entered, and was known for hosting legendary dinner parties. Melanie embraced every moment life offered with grace and an irrepressible sense of humor.
Above all, Melanie was a woman of deep faith, fierce love, and joyful spirit. She was fun, funny, elegant, and endlessly giving-a true caretaker of everyone lucky enough to know her.
A funeral mass will be held at St. Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Sausalito, CA at 10:00 AM on Wednesday, July 16, followed by a celebration of her life at the Outdoor Art Club in Mill Valley. A private family graveside service will take place on Thursday, July 17 at Valley Memorial Park in Novato, CA.
Melanie's legacy of love, laughter, and boundless generosity will live on in all who knew her.