Basic Information
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Full name | Doria (Felice) Palmieri |
| Born | 1951 |
| Died | March 24, 2014 |
| Occupation | Clinical psychologist; earlier ties to performing-arts circles and editorial assistance in magazine world |
| Spouse | Ronald Prescott “Ron” Reagan (married November 24, 1980) |
| Children | None reported |
| Parents | Faustino (Tito) Palmieri & Margaret (Liguori) Palmieri |
| Notable | Longtime partner of Ron Reagan; described in contemporary accounts as warm, private, and active in arts and clinical practice |
| Net worth | No reliable public figure available |
I’ll start with a scene: imagine an apartment in Manhattan in the late 1970s — a place where dance slippers live in the same corner as psychology textbooks, where a stack of Interview magazine issues sits next to clinical notes. That overlap of worlds — art and analysis — is the clearest way I can think to introduce Doria Palmieri, a woman who moved between the private science of healing and the public shimmer of cultural life.
The personal and the familial — people and relationships by the numbers
Below is a concise ledger of the family and relationships that shaped, framed, and often quietly defined Doria’s public story.
| Name | Relationship to Doria | Short introduction |
|---|---|---|
| Ronald Prescott “Ron” Reagan | Spouse | Born May 20, 1958 — a broadcaster and public commentator who married Doria on November 24, 1980; the marriage lasted until her death in 2014. |
| Ronald Wilson Reagan | Father-in-law | 40th U.S. President — Doria entered the Reagan family by marriage and appears in family-focused coverage and recollections. |
| Nancy Davis Reagan | Mother-in-law | First Lady during 1981–1989 — an influential public figure whose events and remembrances occasionally placed Doria in the public eye. |
| Patti Davis | Sister-in-law | Actress and author; one of Ron’s siblings and therefore part of the extended household of relatives. |
| Maureen Reagan (†) | Half-sister-in-law | Deceased member of the Reagan family and part of the wider family network. |
| Michael Reagan | Brother-in-law | Adoptive son of Ronald Reagan; a media figure in his own right and part of the extended family circle. |
| Faustino (Tito) & Margaret Palmieri | Parents | Listed in genealogical and memorial records — the family roots behind Doria’s surname and heritage. |
Reading that table, you might feel like you’ve entered a family album: dates, names, a few captions. But families are more than bullet points; they are the current beneath the photographs — steady, constant, sometimes unseen. Doria’s marriage to Ron was famously low-key: a private civil ceremony in Manhattan on a November day in 1980. The news of it registered in society pages, but the couple preferred a life away from tabloid spectacle, choosing steadiness over headline-making drama.
Career in two halves: the stage-light moments and the consulting room
If life is a film, Doria’s career cuts between two scenes. On one side, she’s close to the performing arts — ballet studios, dance teachers, and the gloss of cultural magazines. On the other, she’s in a quiet office with a couch and a patient’s story — clinical psychology, the work of listening and guiding. Those are two different lights: one sharp and showy, the other soft and revealing.
Numbers that matter here are modest but telling: decades of adult life spent in private practice, one marriage of thirty-three years, and the steady accumulation of professional training required to practice psychology — coursework, licenses, clinical hours — the invisible arithmetic behind “clinical psychologist.” There’s also the curious cultural detail: early-career proximity to an influential magazine scene, an era when pop culture and personal networks could intersect with a single invitation to a downtown loft.
Illness, passing, and public memory
Doria’s death on March 24, 2014, closed a chapter that had been both private and felt in public ways. She lived with a progressive neuromuscular disease in later years, an invisible battle that becomes very visible to those close to it — and to anyone who watches how a partner carries on. The marriage to Ron, which produced no children, left a quiet legacy: shared memories, photos, and the small rituals couples keep for decades.
Even in absence, the arithmetic of dates matters: married in 1980, together for 33+ years until 2014; a life that spans roughly six decades on the public record; an illness that did not make headlines of scandal but did shape the closing scene.
Public mentions, social media echoes, and the rumor mill
Doria was never a headline-grabbing celebrity in the tabloid sense; she occupied a softer orbit. Mentions tended to cluster around family events, photo captions, and profiles of Ron Reagan — the kind of appearances that make someone recognizable to observers without turning them into a brand. Social media tributes after her death replicated archival images and obituary-style reflections, and gossip columns of the 1980s focused on the human-color elements (wedding details, wardrobe notes) rather than scandal.
Net worth? The ledger here is blank: there are no reliable public net-worth figures attached to her name. That itself says something — she was not the kind of public figure whose wealth was turned into a number in celebrity trackers; she remained a private professional and a partner in a public family.
What I think when I look at this life
I like to imagine Doria as someone who carried two wallets: one with tickets to a ballet and one with a patient’s referral list. That duality — cultural curiosity and clinical steadiness — is cinematic in the best way: equal parts backstage warmth and therapist’s calm. She’s not a character from a gossip column or a scripted drama; she’s an interstitial figure who linked the light of public life with the gravity of private care.
FAQ
Who was Doria Palmieri?
Doria Palmieri was a clinical psychologist and longtime spouse of Ronald Prescott “Ron” Reagan, known for moving between the performing-arts milieu and a private clinical practice.
When did she marry Ron Reagan?
They married on November 24, 1980, in a private civil ceremony in Manhattan.
Did Doria Palmieri have children?
No children are reported from the marriage.
What was her profession?
She worked as a clinical psychologist after earlier involvement in performing-arts circles and magazine work.
When did she die and what was the cause?
Doria passed away on March 24, 2014, after living with a progressive neuromuscular disease.
Was she part of the Reagan family public life?
Yes — by marriage she was part of the Reagan extended family and appears in family-focused coverage, but she maintained a largely private life.
Are there public net-worth figures for her?
No reliable public net-worth figure is available for Doria Palmieri.
Where did she come from originally?
Her parents are recorded as Faustino (Tito) Palmieri and Margaret (Liguori) Palmieri, indicating family roots reflected in memorial and genealogical records.
