Terry Dean Malone, age 77 years, of Tempe, Arizona, passed away March 27, 2023, with his family by his side. Terry was born June 19, 1945, in Coffeeville, Kansas, the son of William Malone and Hazel (Blodgett) Schmidt. Terry was the fifth of seven children.
Terry attended elementary school in Gothenburg. His family moved to Harvard, where he attended junior and senior high school. Terry graduated high school in 1965. Terry served his country from 1967-1973. He was stationed in Italy until his discharge from the army. Terry married Joyce (Bowen) Malone on May 20, 1972, in Hastings. They had three children, Heather, Casey and LesLee. The family lived in Hastings for eight years until moving to Hebron in 1980.
Terry worked at Hebron High School as a custodian for several years. Terry loved to work with all the kids at the school. After Terry retired, he started working for Casey’s. Terry was always getting phone calls to see if he was working so he could make their pizzas. He was known as the “Pizza Man “ around Hebron. Terry moved to Wilber after living in Hebron for 24 years. Terry continued his career at Casey’s in Wilber for 24 years before he officially retired in 2021. Terry loved to visit and joke around with the people in the community as well as learning about their families. Terry cared for all his customers and coworkers at Casey’s.
After retiring, Terry moved to Tempe to be with family in 2021. Terry enjoyed the warm weather and loved to tease his Nebraska family and friends about the weather. Terry had nicknames for all his grandchildren and adopted grandchildren. Terry enjoyed gardening and planting flowers in his spare time and visiting with all his neighbors. Terry was the main caregiver for his beloved wife until she passed on April 1, 2022.
He is survived by his two daughters, Heather Danenfelser of Kokomo, Indiana, and LesLee (Ben) Turner of Tempe; one son, Casey Malone of Douglas, Wyoming; 17 grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; one brother-in-law, Darrell (Carmen) Bowen of Aurora;, four sisters-in-law, Mary Bowen of Lincoln, Peg Bowen of O’Neil, Donna Malone of Fremont and Iona Malone; several nieces and nephews and friends.
He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Joyce Malone; two granddaughters, Madison Carbaugh and Mateja Turner; parents, William Malone and Hazel Schmidt; five brothers, Jim, Jack, Jerry, Bill, and Tim Malone; one sister, Leona Jenkins; and close friends, Denny and Renee Fangmeier.
There will be a memorial service for Terry on Saturday, April 29, at 11 a.m. at the Wilber United Methodist Church. Terry’s family would like to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers and kindness during this difficult time and would like to invite anyone to a luncheon immediately following the service.
