George Malhiot

George Malhiot

The Honorable George Donald Malhiot, 97, of Lynchburg, Virginia, died Thursday, March 16, 2023, of natural causes.

Mr. Malhiot, son of Francis "Frank" Malhiot and Roselle Tuohy Malhiot, grew up in Wood-Ridge, New Jersey. He served in World War II and Korea as a naval aviator, and in 1952 married Shirley Jean Mosby of Lynchburg, Va. He earned a B.S. from the University of Maryland, and in 1957 a J.D. from George Washington University. He returned to Wood-Ridge in 1958, where he lived until 2004, excepting a ten-month interruption in 1961, when as a retired commander in the Naval Reserve he was recalled to active duty during the Berlin crisis.

During his career, Mr. Malhiot was the Wood-Ridge borough attorney and prosecutor from 1965 to 1976, and municipal court judge from 1981 to 2004, in addition to his private practice. He also served as zoning board attorney for Wood-Ridge, Maywood, and Rochelle Park. He was a director of the Local Government Law Section for the State Bar Association, chairman of the City-State Relations Committee of the National Institute of Municipal Law Officers, and a member of numerous Bergen County Bar Association committees.

In 2004, Mr. Malhiot retired and moved to the Falls Run Community in Fredericksburg, Va., where he contributed to the Gazette, served on the Covenants Committee, and helped establish the Wall of Honor, which documents the military service of Falls Run veterans. He enjoyed tours, cruises, parties, golf, poker, and karaoke. In 2019, he moved to Runk & Pratt at Liberty Ridge in Lynchburg, where he introduced karaoke and wine tastings.

Mr. Malhiot is survived by his children, Mary Malhiot and her husband, Michael Handelman, of Missoula, Mont.; Michele Malhiot and her partner, James Rushing, of Lynchburg, Va.; Matthew Malhiot and his wife, Connie, of Canton, Ga.; Mark Malhiot and his wife, Veronica, of Katy, Texas; Marguerite Malhiot of Chesapeake, Va.; Montgomery Malhiot and his wife, Christina, of Hammond, La.; and Michael Malhiot of Lynchburg, Va. He is also survived by his sister, Celina Shema and her husband, Joseph, of Freehold, N.J. He also left grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.

Mr. Malhiot was predeceased by his wife in 2008; by his brother, Francis (Frank), in 2002; by his sister, Jean Claire Healy in 2018; and by his sister, Virginia Cindrich in 2020.

No memorial service is scheduled at this time. Mr. and Mrs. Malhiot's cremains will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery.

Mr. Malhiot had requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Wood-Ridge Memorial Foundation, PO Box 282, Wood-Ridge, NJ, 07075; a tax-exempt organization which provides merit scholarships to college students.

Diuguid Waterlick Chapel, 434-237-2722, is serving the family. To send online condolences, please go to www.diuguidfuneralservice.com.