Edward H. Malone

Born in Brooklyn, New York on November 11, 1924, and raised in Forest Hills, he was the only child of Edward Hugh and Gertrude Gibson Malone. Upon graduation from Grover Cleveland High School in Ridgewood, New York, he joined the U.S. Army Air Forces and served in World War II in Italy and Brazil. After the war, Ed earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Columbia University in 1949 and a Master’s in Finance from New York University in 1950.

On September 8, 1951 Ed married Margaret Ann “Peggy” Rakers, also from Forest Hills. They enjoyed a loving and happy marriage lasting 66 years.

After six years in trust investment banking, Ed began his career with General Electric in 1955. He rose to lead that company’s Trust Investment Operations and gained renown for achieving consistently outstanding results. Upon his retirement in 1984, the Wall Street Journal called him “one of Wall Street’s invisible potentates.”

Ed and Peggy lived and raised their family in Rochester, Halesite and Lloyd Harbor, New York and Darien, Connecticut. Following his retirement, Ed and Peggy moved to Naples Florida, where Ed pursued his love of tennis and served on a number of corporate boards and the board of the Naples Philharmonic. He was also an active member of St. William’s Parish.

Ed’s singular lifelong devotion was to his family. Despite the demands of his career, he made it a priority to be home for family dinner during the workweek. Later, when his adult children were raising their own families, Ed arranged a series of family reunions in memorable places from Hilton Head Island to Ireland to the Outer Banks, assuring that his growing family remained close. In his final years, he was closely engaged in the lives of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Ed is survived by his wife Peggy, his children Mary Tilney, Ted Malone, Patricia Palmer and JoAnn Huber; their spouses David, Jim Pipilas, Cole and Wes; eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

Donations may be made in Edward’s name to the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund (www.curealz.org) or the Alzheimer’s Support Network of Naples (www.alzsupport.org). Private services were held.