Madeline May O'Daly

Madeline May (Morabito) O’Daly was born on August 26, 1927, in Youngstown, Ohio, not far from the Mahoning River, the first daughter of Pearina and Anthony (Tony) Morabito. Penny, as her mother was known, was a homemaker; Tony worked as the limousine driver for the owner of the local leather works. Madeline was solidly of Italian descent, Penny’s family originally hailing from the agricultural Abruzzi region and Tony’s family from Reggio Calabria, at the tip of the boot. When Pearl came along, Madeline took on the role of doting elder sister. They would play in the little playhouse in the backyard. Occasionally, the family would make a day trip to Lake Erie, where the sisters would swim along the banks of the lake. As a young girl, she loved to sing and even performed once or twice on one of the local radio stations. In later years, Madeline would sing to her young children in the bathtub or in the car, to keep them occupied.

Eventually, the smoke-filled Youngstown air — the city was a major steel center at that time — drove Tony to move his family to the dry, clean air (!) of Los Angeles for health reasons. He soon obtained a long-term arrangement to manage a parking lot for a bank in Beverly Hills (the business was later passed down to Tony’s eventual son-in-law, John, and subsequently to John’s son, Tony). Penny worked as a bake shop clerk and later as an Avon salesperson. Tony and Penny purchased a duplex in Westwood, on a quiet residential street two blocks from bustling Santa Monica Blvd. They initially occupied the downstairs apartment, but later moved to the upstairs space where they lived for many years. Madeline was in junior high when the family moved to L.A., which made the transition difficult. But she was outgoing, making friends easily, and adjusted quickly to the big city. After attending Hollywood High, she was accepted at U.C.L.A., where she studied mathematics and became a leader in the Theta Phi Alpha sorority. A number of the relationships she made in the sorority lasted throughout her lifetime and provided much of her family’s social life, having dinners and parties with her sorority sisters and their families and even vacationing together.

While attending U.C.L.A., Madeline met her husband to be, William (Bill) L. O’Daly at a Loyola University dance. He was immediately attracted to her. Later, she agreed to go on a date with him. She learned right away that her trustworthy and loyal future spouse had a streak of Irish yarn in him. With a twinkle in his eye, he told her he had a wooden leg when she asked him to explain the reason for a temporary limp caused (unbeknownst to Madeline) by an athletic injury. Madeline fell for it, until the story unraveled before the evening was out. Nonetheless, she agreed to go out with Bill again, and their relationship steadily grew more serious. At the time, Bill was a student of civil engineering at Loyola University and was an accomplished boxer there. Family lore says that, when it came time for Bill to propose, Madeline told him that he would have to quit boxing, to avoid the risk the sport entailed. (She denied the story, however, as late as 2013.)

Madeline graduated from U.C.L.A. with honors in Mathematics and a Teaching Credential. Madeline and Bill were married and settled into an apartment in West Los Angeles. Madeline started her teaching career at Sutter Jr. High, in the San Fernando Valley, and taught there until soon before their first child, Billy, was born. Later came Dan and then, in 1955, the family moved to the Valley, where Bill designed and oversaw the building of their first home. Madeline stayed at home to raise their three children — which by then included Debbie. The family moved again, in 1966, to a newer area in Northridge. When the children were old enough, Madeline returned to teaching, eventually joining the faculty at James Monroe High School, where she was a dedicated and gifted math teacher. In 1975, she received her M.A. in Education from California State University, Northridge, producing a thesis that compared results of the New Math movement with those of the traditional accelerated curriculum. Before she retired in 1988, she became a Master Teacher with the L.A. Unified School District. When she wasn’t teaching in the classroom, she was mentoring students and young math teachers. Madeline’s instruction of teachers also included coaching math faculty members of both California Lutheran University and Cal State Northridge.

Bill and Madeline were among the original parishioners of Our Lady of Lourdes parish. Throughout the years, Madeline played a very active role in the parish. She organized activities for the Santa Barbara Guild, particularly those providing support to the Rancho San Antonio Boys Home. She also lent support to MEND, which serves the poor in the San Fernando Valley. She was a dedicated and loving wife and mother, a highly regarded professional, and a steadfast friend to many.

Madeline passed away peacefully at home on Sunday, August 16, 2015.