John Anthony Palombi

It’s not surprising it was John’s kidneys and heart that failed him. Kidneys exist to filter toxins out of the body. As a lawyer representing men sentenced to die in Alabama and Kentucky before that, John processed some of the world’s most poisonous behavior. He was generous beyond description with his time, talents, mind, and most of all with his heart – which in the end could only take so much. He was a constant source of light and joy and humor and wisdom to the family and friends and colleagues and clients he leaves behind.

John was a consummate everything: litigator, pasta maker and Steelers fan; member of both the Liverpool football club and the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels; husband and dad and dog dad and ferret dad and godfather and uncle. His “strategery” extended the lives of dozens of men whose humanity and individuality were central to how and why he did his job. When kidney failure endangered John’s life, multiple men on Alabama’s death row offered to donate theirs. They wanted to give to him what he gave to them: life. If he haunts anyone, it will be Samuel Alito, who should assume every bump in the night is John Palombi haranguing him from the beyond about how he is and always will be wrong about everything.

John is predeceased by his father George Palombi, and survived by his wife Nancy Palombi; six children, Daniel Palombi (Melanie), Kayla Fritz, Kristin Fritz, Greg Palombi, Thomas Fritz (Heather), and Jared Palombi; grandchildren, Everett and Louie Mae; siblings Sandra Thompson (Chuck) and George Palombi, and his mother Sandra Palombi; by his godson, nieces and nephews, and friends and colleagues; by a well-stocked kitchen and a large collection of Minions figurines and Steelers swag; and by dozens of people on death row whose lives he extended with brilliance, tenacity, wit, and heart.