Junior Seau's Family -- Planning Public Memorial to 'Honor His Life'

Junior Seau's family met yesterday to begin planning a public memorial for the football legend ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to the Seaus tell TMZ, they want to give grieving fans the opportunity to honor his life and his career in the presence of each other.

We're told the public memorial -- to be held somewhere in California -- will take place separate from the family's private Oceanside memorial, specifically to give fans the opportunity to mourn together.

A date for the public memorial has yet to be set. The private memorial will be held Sunday.