William Eugene Malone, '70
William Eugene Malone, '70, died on October 15, 2024 in Springfield, Illinois.
Springfield - William "Bill" Eugene Malone, 72, of Springfield, Illinois, passed away Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024, at Springfield Supportive Living in Springfield. He was born and raised in Oak Park, Illinois, the sixth of seven children born to Eugene R. and Mary M. (Brewer) Malone. He was born Dec. 18, 1951, a week before Christmas on his mother's 31st birthday.
Bill was raised in the 1950's traditional Catholic school of Saint Lucy on the west side of Chicago, walking the two blocks to school with his brothers and sisters. He continued grade school at Byford School in Chicago. When he was starting seventh grade, his mother tragically passed away after undergoing open heart surgery in 1964. This resulted in a distressful family situation and eventually Bill and his family were all split up. He and his older brother, Tom, were dispatched to Father Flanagan's Boys' Home in Boys Town, Nebraska, in August 1965. At Boys Town, both boys flourished. Bill was a scholar and president of the National Honor Society. He was selected to attend one summer session at Phillips Exeter Academy in Massachusetts. After graduating from Boys Town, he went east to Amherst College, one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country. He did well and returned to Chicago, where he learned that there weren't many solid job opportunities for a person with a degree in English. So, he went back to school and earned a master's degree in childhood education and became a grade school and preschool teacher, a profession from which he retired many years later.
Bill had a tender heart for the underdog and disadvantaged. He was an active member of the ACLU and the Environmental Defense Fund. Bill has been described as being one of a kind. He had a passionate interest in the environment and was a climate change expert. He loved the old black and white movies he saw on Turner Movie Classics. Probably, his real love was music. Nobody knew more about rock and roll and blues and bluegrass and jazz than Billy Malone. He never missed an opportunity to get up and dance, even in his assisted living facility in Springfield. He wore out his dance partners (of course they were in their 80s and 90s). He was always the first one on the dance floor, right up to a week before he passed.
Bill brought a lot of fun to holidays and vacations with his family and at Christmas. He will always be remembered for his generosity and his gag gifts like the rubber chicken, the boxing nun puppet and the woopie cushion.
Bill was preceded in death by both his parents, who died in their 40s, and by his infant brother, John. He is survived by three brothers, James P. (wife, Cindy) Malone of Arlington Heights, Tom E. (wife, Terry) Malone of Peoria and Tim G. Malone of Zion; two sisters, Mariann (husband, Chuck Buzek) Doherty of Wayne, Illinois, and Jane E. (husband, Dan) Gallagher of Geneva; along with four nieces, four nephews, seven grand-nephews and one grand-niece as well as many cousins.
The family would like to thank the staff members and his fellow residents at Springfield Supportive Living for the care and love that was shown to our brother Bill. He felt that love. Bill would often quote Duke Ellington, one of his jazz heroes, when he would say to us, "Love ya madly." Bill Malone, you will be missed.
Cremation rites will be accorded. A celebration of life service will be held in the spring, with details announced later.
Bill was raised in the 1950's traditional Catholic school of Saint Lucy on the west side of Chicago, walking the two blocks to school with his brothers and sisters. He continued grade school at Byford School in Chicago. When he was starting seventh grade, his mother tragically passed away after undergoing open heart surgery in 1964. This resulted in a distressful family situation and eventually Bill and his family were all split up. He and his older brother, Tom, were dispatched to Father Flanagan's Boys' Home in Boys Town, Nebraska, in August 1965. At Boys Town, both boys flourished. Bill was a scholar and president of the National Honor Society. He was selected to attend one summer session at Phillips Exeter Academy in Massachusetts. After graduating from Boys Town, he went east to Amherst College, one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country. He did well and returned to Chicago, where he learned that there weren't many solid job opportunities for a person with a degree in English. So, he went back to school and earned a master's degree in childhood education and became a grade school and preschool teacher, a profession from which he retired many years later.
Bill had a tender heart for the underdog and disadvantaged. He was an active member of the ACLU and the Environmental Defense Fund. Bill has been described as being one of a kind. He had a passionate interest in the environment and was a climate change expert. He loved the old black and white movies he saw on Turner Movie Classics. Probably, his real love was music. Nobody knew more about rock and roll and blues and bluegrass and jazz than Billy Malone. He never missed an opportunity to get up and dance, even in his assisted living facility in Springfield. He wore out his dance partners (of course they were in their 80s and 90s). He was always the first one on the dance floor, right up to a week before he passed.
Bill brought a lot of fun to holidays and vacations with his family and at Christmas. He will always be remembered for his generosity and his gag gifts like the rubber chicken, the boxing nun puppet and the woopie cushion.
Bill was preceded in death by both his parents, who died in their 40s, and by his infant brother, John. He is survived by three brothers, James P. (wife, Cindy) Malone of Arlington Heights, Tom E. (wife, Terry) Malone of Peoria and Tim G. Malone of Zion; two sisters, Mariann (husband, Chuck Buzek) Doherty of Wayne, Illinois, and Jane E. (husband, Dan) Gallagher of Geneva; along with four nieces, four nephews, seven grand-nephews and one grand-niece as well as many cousins.
The family would like to thank the staff members and his fellow residents at Springfield Supportive Living for the care and love that was shown to our brother Bill. He felt that love. Bill would often quote Duke Ellington, one of his jazz heroes, when he would say to us, "Love ya madly." Bill Malone, you will be missed.
Cremation rites will be accorded. A celebration of life service will be held in the spring, with details announced later.