When Vincent and Mary married in 1950, she had three small children, but he was never anything but dad to them.
By MARTY CLEAR
Published August 15, 2003
DAVIS ISLANDS - In 1945, not too many men were seeking divorced women with three kids. But that was okay with Mary Palori.
"I had married, divorced and remarried the same man, and then were separated," she said. "I was never going to get married again. I was pretty bitter on men."
Her attitude about men and marriage changed one day at a West Tampa streetcar stop, where she met a soldier named Vince Palori. They were supposed to go out on a blind date, and he showed up early.
"When I got off the streetcar he was there and he drove me home," she said.
It wasn't exactly love at first sight, Mrs. Palori said, but it was pretty close.
"We just clicked right away," she said. "He was home on two weeks leave, and we went out every night for those two weeks, and then we wrote to each other."
After Mr. Palori came home from the service, they resumed spending their free evenings together. In 1950, they married.
They had been married for 53 years when Mr. Palori died Aug. 7 after a long struggle with Parkinson's disease. He was 88.
Like his wife, Mr. Palori was a Tampa native. He was born in Ybor City, she in West Tampa.
"We only had two high schools then, and we were rivals," she said. "He went to Hillsborough and I went to Plant."
They didn't know each other in high school, but Mr. Palori was something of a local celebrity. He was the captain and star player of the Hillsborough High School football team.
After high school he got a job with the U.S. Post Office, then entered the Army in the early days of World War II.
Almost immediately, he distinguished himself on the battlefield. He was awarded a Bronze Star for his conduct in a battle along the Ay River in western France.
Back at home, he continued his career with the post office. His family always considered him a hero.
Mrs. Palori's three daughters were small children in 1945 when she met her husband-to-be, and the oldest was 10 when the Paloris married. From the start, he treated them as his own.
"Back in 1950 he took on a woman with three children," said Joyce Peeples of Seffner, the only surviving daughter. "And there was nothing he wouldn't have done for us."
Mr. Palori never adopted Joyce and her sisters, Judy and Sandy.
But he was their dad. He was the man who raised them, and the three girls had only vague memories of any other father.
"He gave us good values to live by," Peeples said. "We all grew up and did well. He was a great dad to all of us. I don't ever remember him ever raising his voice. He was very easygoing."
He never stopped being a father to the girls, even after they were grown.
"I lived in Miami, and if I ever needed anything he would drop everything and be there for me," Peeples said. "Whatever he needed or wanted I would have given him, and he would have done the same for me."
In addition to his wife and daughter, he is survived by five grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews, including Davis Islands real estate agent Vincent Palori.
