William Maxton Malone

William Maxton (Max) Malone, Ph.D. CLS July 8, 1936 – March 21, 2013 William Maxton (Max) Malone, born in Birmingham, Alabama July 8, 1936, died March 21, 2013 at Houston Northwest Medical Center in Houston, Texas. Max was preceded in death by his parents, Chaplain Jesse Leon Malone and Marie Parks Malone. He is survived by his wife, Myrtle Davidson Malone; three sons: Geoffrey Maxton Malone, Philip Douglas Malone and Kevin Joseph Malone, all of Houston; and first cousin Glenn Lautzenheiser, who was truly an older brother, of Monteagle, Tennessee. Max spent his early years in North Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, and New Mexico, places where his father, an Episcopalian priest and Chaplain in the US Army, served before and during World War II, and finally in Murfreesboro, Tennessee where his father served as Chaplain at the VA Hospital. Max attended church with his mother, a lifelong member of the church of Christ and Women’s Bible Class teacher, and became a Christian at the age of 12 in Murfreesboro. His interest was in Scouting, and he became an Eagle Scout at age 15. He also played trumpet in the high school band, which marched in the second inaugural parade of President Dwight D. Eisenhower in Washington, DC. After earning a B.S. degree in Chemistry and Mathematics from Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Max joined the U.S. Navy, completed Officer’s Candidate School in Rhode Island and served as a nuclear weapons officer aboard the aircraft carrier USS Midway in the Pacific from 1960-1963. Following his military service, Max earned a Ph.D in inorganic chemistry from the University of Alabama, then completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Georgia. He attended the University church of Christ in Tuscaloosa, where he met Myrtle Davidson, a freshman majoring in English and Journalism who participated in the University Christian Student Center mission trips to Ontario, Canada each summer, for which Max provided financial support. They were married June 14, 1969, and moved to Connecticut where Max did research for US Plywood in Brewster, NY and Myrtle worked in Public Relations for Danbury Hospital in Danbury, Connecticut. They worshipped with the Stamford church of Christ, an exodus group that originated from the University Church in Tuscaloosa. Max had preached at many Alabama churches and solicited support for the Stamford Exodus. In 1970, Max accepted a job at the National Lead (NL Industries) laboratory in Hightstown, New Jersey and Myrtle worked for the Mercer County Community College in Trenton. They attended Princeton church of Christ where Max served as a deacon. Geoff (Feb. 15, 1974) and Philip (Sept. 3, 1975) were born in Princeton. In January 1976, the family moved “back South” to Houston, Texas where Max worked for Pearsall Chemical before starting his own company. Myrtle worked in the Publications Department at the University of Houston until Kevin (Nov. 27, 1982) joined the family, then edited books for Pioneer Publications (1983-2000) and currently works in Marketing at Stewart & Stevenson. After closing his company, Max served as an adjunct professor teaching chemistry at the original campus of the North Harris Montgomery College (now Lone Star). At the time of his death, he was Lab Manager at Southwest Spectro-Chem Labs Division of Preventive/Predictive Maintenance Services, Inc. in South Houston. In Houston, the family attended Bammel church of Christ where Max served as deacon of education and Myrtle taught Cradle Roll and Pre-School Bible classes, provided articles for the church newsletter and developed Missions Sunday brochures. In July 2008, Max and Myrtle became members of the Champions church of Christ, whose members, as in congregations where we worshipped before, have provided the love of Christ and support to see us through all life’s joys and struggles. In Max’s last medical battle, we were truly blessed by the remarkable medical professionals in the MICU and SICU at Houston Northwest Medical Center, in particular RNs Heather, Jon, Jacob, and Nida, who provided loving care during his last days. Our thanks to these specialists and others, who gave their all to make the outcome the success Max so wanted it to be: Infectious Disease specialist Elizabeth Ramos, Nephrology specialist Helen Hwang Lee; Cardiologist Christopher Nguyen; Pulmonology specialist William A. Rhoton, and Cardiovascular surgeon, Mark Mettauer. Our sincere thanks to you all.