Obituaries: Neil Palomba

Courtesy Chesmore Funeral Home

Neil Palomba, 81, of Holliston, died peacefully at home, on April 13. He was born in Brooklyn, New York on June 20, 1930, son of Rose (Giglio) and Luciano Palomba.

He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Dolores (Flynn), children Nora Palomba Wagman, of Maynard MA, Lois Palomba Robbins, of Hopkinton and Alan Palomba and wife Ann, of Wylie, Texas and four grandchildren: Christopher Wagman of Maynard, and Daniel, Caroline, and Alyssa Palomba of Wylie Texas.

In 1973 he moved his family from Brooklyn to Massachusetts, having transferred from Bell Telephone New York to New England Telephone and retired in 1993 from AT&T in Framingham. He was a Fourth Degree Knight with the Framingham Chapter of the Knights of Columbus.

Neil had a lifelong passion for baseball and football. He was a devoted Brooklyn Dodgers fan and loved to watch them play at Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field, before it was torn down. Despite a lifelong physical handicap from polio, he played baseball, as well as coached the Bay Ridge Indians softball team.

He was an expert in sports history, winning many trivia contests that eventually led him to be a guest sports commentator on a local Framingham radio station, WKOX. He also loved the New England Patriots, and it was a long summer as he waited for football season to come alive again. Neil enjoyed cars and numerous road trips with his family. He loved his family and was proud of his children’s academic achievements and professional successes. He had a gift of wit and a sense of humor, loved practical jokes, and cherished time he spent with his family. His retirement years were limited by the reoccurrence of polio and his last four months were complicated by cancer. 

Expressions of sympathy in his name can be sent to the Holliston High School Sports Program, Holliston Athletic Boosters Association 370 Hollis Street Holliston MA 01746. Arrangements are under the care of the Chesmore Funeral Home.