Grace Palacio

1931-2021

Grace Palacio passed away at her home in Gooding, Idaho on August 11, 2021, following a short illness.

She was born May 4, 1931, in Ely, Nevada to Mike and Marianne Paris Camino, Basque immigrants from Spain and France.  The family moved to Elko County in 1931.

Grace started First Grade at the one-room Rabbit Creek School in Pleasant Valley, Nevada in 1937, boarding with the Bud Roberts family, Shoshone and Oklahoma Native Americans. Grace always spoke highly of the family--their kindnesses, and her experience living in their home. She started school speaking only Basque--not a word of English--but quickly learned the language. She was especially excited about reading, saying, “I wanted to learn so badly I would have done anything to learn.” She loved to read all her life.

In 1940, her parents purchased the Harry Trott Ranch in Lamoille.  Grace graduated Eighth Grade from the Lower Lamoille Humboldt School.  She boarded in Elko to attend high school and graduated from Elko High School in 1949.

She started working summers at the First National Bank of Nevada after her freshman year in high school.  She started as a gopher, moved on to check bookkeeper, and finally worked her way up to Secretary for the bank’s four officers. She worked there until her marriage to Frank Palacio on June 19, 1954 at which time she moved to the 71 Ranch at Halleck and began housekeeping  in her “little sod shanty,” a small two-room log cabin.  Barney Monasterio, the ranch cook for the 71 Ranch, was the person she credited with teaching her many of the cooking techniques and skills that would later be greatly appreciated by many--especially her children and grandchildren.

Grace and Frank had two sons, Robert Michael and John Loren Palacio. In 1957, after living on the 71 Ranch near Deeth, Nevada, Grace and Frank bought the Camino Ranch from her parents, and they raised their own family there.

One of Grace’s great joys was sewing, especially quilting, and she credited the 4-H program with teaching her the early skills that she continued to develop throughout her life.  When she had children of her own, she involved them early in 4-H and gave back through her involvement in the Lamoille 4-H Club and Elko County 4-H Program throughout the years.

In 1966, Grace began working as a clerk for the Forest Service in Lamoille, a job she held for the next 15 years.  She managed very successfully to balance the life of mother, wife, ranch hand, and modern working woman.

In 1978, Grace and Frank sold the family ranch, moving to Lamoille and Pleasant Valley, before finally settling in Elko.  She greatly enjoyed her retirement and living in town.  She had a wonderful circle of friends (when you were a friend of Grace’s you were a friend for life) and she was very active with her many hobbies and interests.  She especially loved being a grandmother when her grandchildren came along.

Grace always wanted to move to Idaho to be closer to her beloved sister Jean and in 2009, she finally got the chance to do so.  She lovingly cared for her husband, Frank through a long illness until he passed in 2013.  Her care for him was an inspiration to all who knew her.

Grace was preceded in death by her husband Frank and her son Robert (Bobby).  She is survived by her son John (Suzy) Palacio of Elko, grandsons, Michael and Nicholas of Reno, and Jacob of Elko, sister Jean Palacio of Gooding, Idaho and numerous nieces and nephews throughout Idaho, Californian and Nevada.  She was much loved and will be greatly missed.

The family would like to especially thank Dr. Brittni McLam, of Gooding, Idaho for the compassionate care she showed Grace and for advocating for her so she could spend her final days in the place she loved most--her home--surrounded by the people she dearly loved, and who loved and adored her in return.  They would like to thank the caregivers from Hospice Visions, Inc of Twin Falls and HomeLife Care of Filer, Idaho who helped make her last days comfortable and happy ones. The family would also like to express their deep gratitude to Grace’s dear friend and faithful daily lunch companion, Jean Alexander. 

Graveside services will be held on Wednesday, August 25, 2021, at 11:00 am at Burns Memorial Garden, 895 Fairground Rd., Elko, Nevada.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Grace’s honor to the charity of donor’s choice.

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