Elizabeth Louise Palmgren

July 15, 1929 - December 9, 2015

Elizabeth Louise Palmgren passed away at age 86 after a short illness surrounded by family and friends in Vallejo, California. "Liz", or "Bee", was born and raised in Highland Park, Illinois; third daughter of Edward and Mary Green. She grew up in a family that extended assistance to the needy and saw the importance of caring for one’s neighbors, especially during the darkest days of the Great Depression. After college she followed her brother and sister (Edward and Margaret) into the ministry. She served through the Sisters of the Good Shepherd in Saint Louis, Missouri by counseling young women. After 20 years she felt called to leave the order and expand her ministry to a larger community. She met and married the love of her life, Carl Palmgren, and they made a home in San Francisco’s Potrero District. She worked almost thirty years with high-risk families through the California Department of Social Services in the East Bay. Their home was filled with light and laughter, an open door to a host of nieces, nephews, and all those who knew her. Liz loved her roses, weaving, traveling, sailing, and meeting every day at 4pm with her lady friends. She is survived by her last remaining sister, Jan Clark, in Lake Bluff, Illinois; nieces and nephews: Laura, Rob, Ellie, Jim, Charlie, Red, Mary, Austin, Bill, Joe and Marguerite; and grand nieces and nephews too numerous to count. An informal gathering will be held Sunday at the family home in lieu of services.