Shirley Malon (nee Heher) at the age of 89, fortified with the Sacraments of Holy Mother Church died peacefully on Friday September 27, 2019.

Shirley was born July 8, 1930 in Saint Louis, Missouri to Frances (nee Brinker) and Thomas Heher. She joined her older brother Richard, and was soon joined by sisters Virginia, and then Carol. They all grew up on Elias Avenue in the Baden neighborhood of north St. Louis, and later on Cameron Road in Glasgow Village. Shirley attended Holy Name Catholic grade school and graduated from Beaumont High School in 1948. As a youth, Shirley took long walks to the neighborhood pool, where she loved to dive and swim for hours on end.

Shirley landed a job as an office manager at Scruggs, Vandervoort & Barney department store, where she met her husband, Donald Malon. Shirley and Don married at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Glasgow Village on September 6, 1958. The couple purchased a new house in Glasgow Village, one mile from her mom’s. Shirley and Don soon had four boys: the late Michael, Thomas, Gregory and Patrick. Shirley became involved in the local grade school and parish of St. Catherine of Alexandria, where her children attended classes and church and became alter boys. Shirley served as a substitute teacher.

In the late 1970s, the family moved to a new house in Ballwin, MO, and by the late 1980s, with her kids going off to college and homes of their own, Shirley became the lone tenant of the house in Oakleigh Woods. Weekly, Shirley would drive to mass at Saint Joseph’s Catholic church, followed by grocery shopping at Dierbergs and catching up with the store staff. For decades, Shirley maintained her large home and yard, often planting flowers, but in the last few years, she stopped driving and attending mass and the grocery store. She kept a positive attitude and cared always for the lives and well-being of her boys, her grandkids and her nieces and nephews.

Shirley passed while at peace in the middle of the night, after having time to share love with relatives in her final weeks. She is survived by sons Tom, Greg and Pat; daughter-in-law Kelly; grandchildren David, Gracie and Claire; great-grandchildren Michael and John David; nephews Mark, David, Matt and Stephen; nieces Linda, Nancy, Mary R, Mary H, Kathryn Sienna, Sharon, Meredith and Melissa; brothers-in-law Aloysius, Roy and Scott; and sisters-in-law Joan and Marcella.

A Catholic mass will be held 10:00 am Saturday, November 2nd at Christ the King Catholic Church, 7316 Balson Avenue in University City, Missouri. It will be followed with a gathering for sharing warm memories of Shirley at Seven Gables Inn, 26 North Meramec Avenue in Clayton, MO from 11:30 am to 2:00 pm.

In lieu of flowers, please donate in Shirley’s name to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (stjude.org).