Robert L. Maloney

Fr. Robert L. Maloney, S.J. Fr. Robert Lawrence Maloney, longtime administrator at the University of San Francisco and former Provincial for Formation for the Jesuit California Province, died at the age of 78 on August 19, 2007 at Regis Infirmary, Sacred Heart Jesuit Center, Los Gatos. He was a Jesuit for 59 years and an ordained priest for 46 years. Bob was born in Santa Rosa, CA, on May 23, 1929. He grew up on the family farm in Fallon, a no longer extant hamlet in Northwestern Marin County. He attended a one-room schoolhouse and graduated from Tomales High School. At the end of his freshman year at Santa Clara University, Bob entered the novitiate at Los Gatos on August 14, 1948. He completed philosophical studies at Gonzaga University and taught freshman English at the University of San Francisco, 1955-57. He then earned a M.S. in education at Fordham University in 1958. Theological studies were taken at Alma College, Los Gatos, and he was ordained a priest in St. Mary's Cathedral, San Francisco, on June 8, 1961. From 1963 to 1966 Bob pursued doctoral studies in education at the University of Michigan and began a long career as a teacher and administrator at the University of San Francisco. In 1968 Bob's work at USF was interrupted for a Jesuit administrative assignment. He served as Provincial of Formation for three years, responsible for the education and training of men preparing for the Priesthood and Brotherhood, at a time of great changes in the Church and society. He returned to the University of San Francisco in 1971, where he remained until his retirement in 1999. He was at various times Assistant Dean and Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Dean of the Evening College, and Director of the St. Ignatius Institute, a "Great Books" program within the University. Bob was known as an excellent teacher, popular with colleagues and students alike. His organizational abilities, perceptiveness and patient and sympathetic ear served him well in his various administrative roles. He was an extremely conscientious and apostolic priest, greatly devoted to the Society of Jesus. In his retirement, Bob kept up his lively interest in the liberal arts by his readings in literature, philosophy, and theology. For relaxation, he enjoyed jig saw puzzles, the more complicated the better. Bob is survived by his brother Michael Maloney of Petaluma; sister, Sr. Eleanore Maloney, SNJM of Los Gatos, and numerous cousins, nephews and nieces. Vigil: 7:30PM, Tues., Aug. 28, at Sacred Heart Jesuit Center, 300 College Ave., Los Gatos. Mass of Christian Burial: 10:00AM, Wed., Aug. 29, at Sacred Heart Jesuit Center. Committal follows at Santa Clara Mission Cemetery, Santa Clara. Memorial Mass will be celebrated on Sun., Sept. 9, 2:30PM at the Church of the Assumption, Tomales. Reception will follow at the Maloney Ranch, 1995 Gericke Rd., Petaluma.