Marianist Father Raymond Malley
Marianist served 20 years in Hawaii as a dedicated teacher, pastor
Father Raymond Malley, who spent a third of his years as a Marianist priest as a teacher and pastor in Hawaii, died Jan. 7 in Cupertino at the age of 80 in the 61st year of his religious profession. He was ordained 58 years.
Father Malley, who also worked in California and Washington, is remembered as a dedicated Marianist and a quiet, gentle priest whose humble leadership brought out the best in those he shepherded.
Appointed in 1993 as pastor of St. Anthony Parish, Wailuku, he came to be known as a smart administrator.
“I remember when he first came to St. Anthony’s,” said longtime parish secretary Lori Cabacungan. “He said he was going to observe the parish and all of its traditions and after a year he would make recommendations and some changes. He empowered us to explore things we thought were impossible. He was a wonderful leader, shepherd and friend.”
Father Ray ministered in Wailuku for 14 years, including 10 years assisting the bishop as vicar forane for Maui, Molokai and Lanai.
“Father Ray was very quiet but effective in his leadership, and we flourished, especially financially,” said parishioner Debbie Melton. “He will be remembered as leaving a solid, lasting legacy.”
Brother Frank Gomes, a Maui native and member of Father Malley’s vow class, said that his friend “loved Maui perhaps as much as I did. Ray was always certain about his Marianist vocation. He enjoyed and took delight in everything Marianist. I saw him happy as a professor and even happier as a pastor.”
Raymond Edward Malley was born on Sept. 26, 1940, in San Francisco. He and sisters Eileen and Rosemary were the children of Edward and Margaret (Snider) Malley.
During his senior year at Archbishop Riordan High School, he attended a gathering of sodalists from Marianist high schools across California. The teens took turns addressing the group. “The shortest in physical stature with a shock of brown hair over his forehead, was quiet Ray,” recalled Father Ted Ley, a member of Father Ray’s vow class. “About halfway through, Ray took the floor, and evenly, convincingly — the way it’s been said of Father Chaminade — became the leader of the whole meeting.”
Father Malley entered the Marianist novitiate at Santa Cruz, California, in 1958, and professed first vows there on Aug. 15, 1959. He attended Chaminade University of Honolulu, earning a bachelor’s degree in philosophy in 1963. He taught for a semester at Archbishop Riordan High and a semester at Saint Louis School in Honolulu. He professed perpetual vows on Aug. 23, 1964, in Gardena, California.
He studied for the priesthood in Fribourg, Switzerland and at Saint Louis University, in St. Louis, Missouri. He was ordained on May 25, 1968, in San Francisco.
Father Malley served as teacher, administrator and chaplain in Marianist schools in California until 1978, when he was called to Walla Walla, Washington, to be principal of DeSales High School and superintendent of the Diocese of Walla Walla’s Catholic schools. Five years later he was asked to be pastor at nearby Assumption Parish, serving there until 1988.
In 1989, following a year’s sabbatical, he was assigned to Chaminade University of Honolulu, teaching theology classes and serving as the university’s representative to the National Collegiate Athletic Association for four years.
Father Malley moved to the Marianist Community in Cupertino in 2008 where he continued to be active, helping with liturgy and community needs.
“Ray had a full Marianist life. He did so much for others in a variety of fields and was a great ‘community man,’” said Father Ley. “What a lifetime gift to have known him.”
Father Malley’s funeral was scheduled for Jan. 19 in Cupertino. St. Anthony Parish, Wailuku will celebrate a Memorial Mass at 6 p.m. Feb. 8. It will be livestreamed.
