Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Miami Herald - Friday, June 07, 2002
Adriana Cordovi, acordovi@herald.com
Born and raised in Miami, Palmer-Michel married Richard Michel in 1986 and gave birth to Riccardia one year later. In 1988, her husband found out he had contracted the AIDS virus several years before. Palmer-Michel soon learned that she and her daughter also were infected.
Richard died in 1989. By the time Riccardia died in 1992, Palmer-Michel had developed full-blown AIDS. Riccardia appeared to her in a dream, she told The Herald in 1997. In the dream, her daughter took her to a place where other children were suffering and dying from AIDS. "I felt I had a new reason to live," she said. That's when her crusade began.
"She wanted to live and continue to contribute to the community," said her brother, Alex Paulmer. "Her purpose in life was to educate other people about AIDS. She really gave everything she had to serving the public."
She was a board member of Health Crisis Network, which merged with Community Research Initiative and is now Care Resource, a program that provides services to those "infected and affected" by AIDS and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
In addition to her brother Alex, Palmer is survived by her father, Alvin Palmer Sr., and her sister, Angela Palmer.
Visitation is scheduled from 4:30 to 9 p.m. today at Manker Funeral Home, 2075 NW 54th St. Mass will be said at noon Saturday at the Church of the Incarnation, 1835 NW 54th St.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Care Resource, 1320 S. Dixie Hwy., Coral Gables, FL 33146, or the Episcopal AIDS Ministry, 464 NE 16th St. Miami, FL 33132.
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