Lee Cangelosi Maloney, an educator, devoted wife and loving mother of eight, died on Aug. 23. She was 97. She is survived by her children Kathleen Maloney of Pinole, CA, Michael Sean Maloney of Lacombe, LA, Sharon Ann Carraway of Mandeville, LA, John Gerard Maloney, William Joseph Maloney, Mary Lee Maloney Simon and Maureen Rose Maloney, all of New Orleans, and Ann Margaret Maloney Charpentier of Washington, D.C.; daughter-in-law Dorothy Maloney, sons-in-law Sam Carraway, Marc Simon and Colley Charpentier, 14 grandchildren and eight great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents Joseph and Domenica “Mamie” Cangelosi, her husband William O. Maloney and her grandsons John Patrick Maloney and Michael Hunter Dry.
Mrs. Maloney was born April 6, 1923, in New Orleans. She graduated from Loyola University in 1943. She earned a Master’s Degree, plus 30, in education from Tulane University in 1973. She met her husband Bill at Loyola, where both worked on the college newspaper, The Maroon. They became engaged on Dec. 7, 1941 and were happily married on April 24, 1944. During World War II, Mr. Maloney enlisted and entered active service on Feb. 23, 1943, serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps until Nov. 8, 1945. After their marriage at Mater Dolorosa Catholic Church in New Orleans, Mrs. Maloney traveled around the country to be near the various bases to which her husband had been assigned while he served in the continental United States.
When Mr. Maloney was honorably discharged from the service as a Staff Sergeant, after serving as an AP Armorer and ball turret gunner in Europe, the couple settled down in the French Quarter and worked as freelance journalists for The Times-Picayune and the States-Item, as well as wire services. Mrs. Maloney raised her children for a number of years and then began her career as an educator. She taught in Catholic schools and then taught English in the New Orleans Public School System for more than 20 years, including S.J. Peters High School and John F. Kennedy Senior High School. At Kennedy, she served as school newspaper adviser, fighting against censorship of students’ reporting and opinions. In later life, she ran a pre-school with her daughter, Mary Lee. Mrs. Maloney was baptized Roman Catholic at St. Francis de Sales Church on May 6, 1923. She attended Ursuline Academy on scholarship, graduating in 1940. She credits the Ursuline Sisters with not only supporting her education, including her ambition to attend college, but instilling in her the drive to educate others. She was active in the alumnae organization and edited its newsletter for many years. Mrs. Maloney was a voracious reader, loved crossword puzzles, enjoyed writing fiction for pleasure and was an accomplished home cook. She was an intrepid traveler, studying abroad in England and Scotland while working on her graduate degree, and taking her children on trips in the United State and abroad. After she and her husband retired, they became beachcombers, visiting Florida, the Caribbean and the South Pacific -- and spent time with their family. When her husband became ill in later life, she devoted herself to caring for him at home until his death in 2009. Her survivors will miss that devotion to her family and her creative, determined spirit. After a private Funeral Mass at The National Shrine to Our Lady of Prompt Succor on the Ursuline Academy Campus, she was buried next to her husband at Cypress Grove Cemetery in New Orleans. If you would like to honor her memory, please donate to the Ursuline Academy in New Orleans. https://ursulineneworleans.myschoolapp.com/page/giving/donate-now?siteId=795&ssl=1.
Arrangements entrusted to JACOB SCHOEN & SON.
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