Dr. Francis O'Malley, 84, orthopedist, dies
A committed and accomplished orthopedist and father of eight, Dr. Francis O'Malley died at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip, where he worked for more than 50 years. He was 84. Credit: handout
Francis O'Malley lived for his friends, his family, his faith and his job, family members said.
A committed and accomplished orthopedist and father of eight, O'Malley died Monday at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip, where he worked for more than 50 years. He was 84.
"He was driven," said his wife of 56 years, Patricia. "He expected a lot of himself and a lot of his children. Everyone loved him."
Born Jan. 6, 1929, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, O'Malley grew up in an apartment on 139th Street with his father and brother. He graduated from Manhattan College in 1955 with a degree in biology. Then, after enrolling in New York Medical College, meeting his wife and receiving a deferment from the Army, he served as an orthopedic surgeon in Verdun, France, from 1960 to 1962.
After he was discharged, O'Malley and his wife indulged their shared love of travel, vacationing all over Europe and other parts of the world. "We lived like gypsies," Patricia O'Malley said. They went to Turkey, Egypt, China and Alaska. They went to the then-Soviet Union, where her husband insisted they find a church prayer service in the communist state. Wherever the O'Malleys went, she said, they attended church.
Back home, O'Malley and his wife moved to a new house in West Islip in 1967. They would remain there until his death. In the 46 years in between, O'Malley devoted himself to his growing family and his job.
He became a partner at South Shore Orthopedic Associates in West Islip and worked as a surgeon at Southside Hospital in Bay Shore and Good Samaritan Hospital, also in West Islip. O'Malley paid for college and graduate school for each of his eight children. Four children followed him into medicine.
"He was a great mentor and a great father," said his son Terence O'Malley of Babylon, who worked as an anesthesiologist at the same hospital as his father for more than two decades.
Though he retired two years ago, O'Malley continued to work for the Suffolk County Police Department, conducting medical evaluations on officers until three months ago. "He was on oxygen all the time, and he still went to work. He didn't slow down until the end," Terence O'Malley said.
In addition to his wife and son Terence, O'Malley is survived by daughter Maura L. O'Malley of Knoxville, Tenn.; and sons James J. O'Malley of Pacific Palisades, Calif., Thomas P. O'Malley of Locust, N.J., William S. O'Malley of Houston, Michael D. O'Malley of Albany, John S. O'Malley of Wilmington, N.C., and Robert B. O'Malley, also of Wilmington.
A funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in Babylon on Saturday at 9:45 a.m. Visiting will be at the Frederick J. Chapey & Sons Funeral Home, West Islip, Friday from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m.
