John E. Malone

John Edgar Malone, 61, died Wednesday, May 31, at his home, Rosinburg Farm, near Zebulon. His death was the result of a heart attack. Malone, a pharmacist, owned and operated Malone Drugs, an independent pharmacy, for over 34 years in Zebulon until he sold the business in September 2004. He was currently employed as a pharmacist by Eckerd Drugs in Zebulon.
A native of North Carolina, he was born May 21, 1945, at the Weeksville Naval Air Station near where his father, a Navy officer, was stationed in Edenton. He was the son of E. T. Malone and Mildred B. Winborne Malone, both now deceased. He grew up in Harnett County, graduating in 1963 from Coats High School, where he was an outstanding student both academically, athletically and in a wide range of leadership roles. His parents operated Malone Apartments at Wrightsville Beach, 1958-1960, and during that time he played catcher on the Wrightsville Beach Pony League baseball team.
In Coats, he served as president both of the student body and of his senior class, and he won all-conference honors his senior year in football, basketball, and baseball. On his very last game as a senior, he scored 27 points in a game in the Harnett County Boys Basketball Tournament. After one year at Campbell College, he transferred into the pharmacy program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he graduated in 1968 and was president of his pharmacy school class. Always a loyal fan of Carolina,he loved to attend football and basketball games over the years and was a member of the Educational Foundation. He had recently created a scholarship fund at the School of Pharmacy. John served in the Army Reserve during the Vietnam War period. After his marriage on Aug. 24, 1968, to Janine Elaine Westmoreland of Canton, North Carolina, the couple resided briefly in Greensboro, where he worked for Eckerd Drugs. In 1969 they moved to Zebulon, and he worked one year for Morgan Drugs, which he purchased in 1970. He operated this business for 34 years as Malone Drugs, until its sale. Malone was known as a hard-working man of great integrity and compassion, taking time to reassure the elderly and uneducated, listening to their concerns, and explaining details of their medical situations to them. In this sense, he was in the time-honored tradition of the old-time pharmacist, having a personal relationship with all who entered the store. To many of them, he was "Doctor John." He loved to read, follow his beloved Tar Heel sports teams, listen to music, and, above all, spend time with his two sons, who were the light of his life. He supported and assisted his wife Janine in her equestrian activities and organizations on the national level. Theyoperated Rosinburg Farm, both as their home and as a horse farm.
Malone is survived by his wife, Janine; two sons, Samuel Westmoreland Malone, of Zebulon and Oxford, England, Benjamin Justice Malone of Zebulon; two brothers, E.T. Malone, Jr. of Chapel Hill, Charles J. Malone and wife, Donna of Raleigh; former sister-in-law, Lynda C. Malone of Wilmington; sister-in-law, Judy W. Thompson and husband, Mike of Marion; niece, Anna Malone Huie of Wilmington; nephew, Edward W. Malone of Chapel Hill; nephew, David T. Malone of Raleigh.
Visitation will be from 6-9 p.m. Friday, June 2, 2006 at Massey Funeral Home in Zebulon.
Funeral services are scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday, June 3, 2006 at the Zebulon Baptist Church, 400 N. Arendell Ave., Zebulon. There will be a graveside service for interment of ashes at 11 a.m. Monday, June 5, 2006 at the alumni Memorial Grove adjacent to the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery on the campus of the University of North Carolina.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in John's memory to the John Malone Scholarship Fund, Pharmacy Foundation of North Carolina, 194 Finley Golf Course Road, Suite 106, Chapel Hill, N.C. 27517.
Arrangements by Massey Funeral Home, Zebulon.
www.masseyfuneralhome.com