Ronald Irvin Mallory "Fuzzy"

Ronald Irvin Mallory, known to his friends as Fuzzy and to everyone else simply as Pop, passed from this life on May 14, 2026, leaving behind a family that loved him deeply and a legacy that will echo for generations.

Born April 9, 1944, Pop answered his country’s call as a young man, enlisting in the United States Navy on June 8, 1962. He served aboard the USS Ticonderoga during the Vietnam War, completing his active duty on June 7, 1968, and continued to serve in the Naval Reserve until 1973. He came home with the quiet strength of a man who had served faithfully and chosen, deliberately, to build something good.

He spent 35 years serving the City of Phoenix in water distribution, retiring as a supervisor. It was work that suited him. Steady, essential, and never once beneath him, done with the kind of reliability that people built their lives around. Much like the man himself.

And build he did. Fifty-nine years of marriage. A son. A daughter. Six grandchildren. Thirteen great-grandchildren. A life measured not in milestones but in people.

Pop was a big man, and his love ran bigger. He was loyal the way load-bearing walls are loyal. Reliable. Loving. A little ornery, which only made him more himself. And his hugs, the kind that made the world feel steadier for a moment, were legendary to everyone lucky enough to receive one.

He didn’t chase recognition. He chased something quieter and harder: making sure the people he loved were taken care of. Every single day, in every way he knew how.

He is survived by his beloved wife of 59 years, Janice; his son, Donald Mallory; his daughter, Kim Mallory-Townsend; six grandchildren; and thirteen great-grandchildren, one of whom preceded him in death.

But he left enough of himself in the people around him that you will keep finding him, for the rest of your lives, when you need him most. In the instinct to show up. In the way you wrap your arms around someone and mean it. He asked us, in the end, to take care of each other. That was always his way. And as long as we do, something essential about Pop remains very much alive.