[Dixielandjazz] RIP John A. Maloney (member of Emperor Norton's Jazz Band and South Bay Traditional Jazz Society)

[David M Richoux]

Saw this in the paper today...

Dave Richoux
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John A. Maloney

June 1, 1921 - May 12, 2010

John Maloney was born and raised in Sayre, PA but a cross country trip  
as a high school graduate sold him on California as the place to get  
away from cold winters. His first job was as a caddy at age eleven at  
the Sayre country club. Soon after he was hired the caddies went on  
strike for a raise. They won and were paid up to 25 cents per round,  
and that was the beginning of his solid support for labor unions and  
the beginning of lifetime habit of working.

He served in the U.S. Army in World War II as an infantryman in the  
invasion of North Africa and in the invasion of Sicily. Like many men  
of his generation, his combat service was the defining force in his  
life and was never forgotten. He was a 1953 graduate of Santa Clara  
University, and he went from there to become a social worker for Santa  
Clara County. He had started to learn the clarinet at age ten and  
completed classical training. He was bitten by the jazz bug early and  
was playing in combos in clubs by age sixteen. Locally he played for  
30 years with Emperor Norton's Jazz Band as well as with other groups.  
He was an enthusiastic supporter of live music and the South Bay  
Traditional Jazz Society. He always thought that San Jose CA was the  
best place in the world to live.

His first wife, Elizabeth, died in 1983. He is survived by his second  
wife, Cecelia, and two daughters Patricia Farrell and her husband,  
Jim, and Veronica Maloney, two grandchildren, Jennifer Maloney and  
Sean Farrell and his wife Adriana, eight step children and eleven step  
grandchildren.

The family is planning a Dixieland memorial in the near future. His  
ashes will be scattered at sea. In lieu of flowers, the family  
requests donations to a charity of your choice or to Second Harvest  
Food Bank.