WALTER DEAN MALEC

Walter Dean Malec was born June 20,  in Roaring Spring, Pennsylvania to Walter Malec, Jr. of Monessen, Ohio, and  Nola Malec, formerly Nola Kidder, of Urbana, Ohio.  His father's parents were of Polish descent.  His paternal Grandmother was the former Mary Yackish and his grandfather was Walter Malec, Sr. of Washington, DC . His mother's parents were Ralph Kidder and  the former Garnet Iona Dalton.  Some of his maternal ancestors were Native Americans, reportedly from the Cherokee.

Walt has two sisters Susan Howey and Shirley Shankle that are both a little younger than he and two older sisters Linda Dunn and Debbie Standall.  He has a niece, Julie, of whom he is very fond.

Walt is from a large family and has many cousins.  They mostly all keep in touch and are a close knit group.  His dad always called him "Henry" but we are not sure why.

Walt's father was in the Air Force and their family traveled extensively.  While growing up ,Walt  lived in Africa, where his sister Susan was born, Okinawa, The Philippines, Oklahoma, Georgia, Oregon, where His sister Shirley was born, and  Ohio.

Once, in Africa when Walt had just learned to walk, he escaped from his mother and their native nanny, Fatma, and disappeared.  His frantic mother ran all over trying to find him.  Some of the locals who recalled seeing him with his mother found him and he was returned safely.  Another time  in Africa, when his sister Susan was a tiny baby, Walt who wasn't even two years old, was trying to be helpful.   He grabbed his screaming sister by the hair and dangling her by it brought her to his mother in another room saying "Baby Cry".

Walt went to many schools all over the world.  He played football in one of them.  He graduated from Fairview High School in Dayton, Ohio .

He joined the Army for two years and had basic training in South Carolina.  He was trained as a medic at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas.  He was stationed in Colorado.

He then joined the Air Force Reserves  and  was sent to Germany and Spain.

Walt  had several different jobs over the years mostly in  restaurants. He worked in Joe's Fish House and The Buckhorn Tavern in Ohio.  He had a paper route when he was younger.

Walt was married briefly in the sometime in the 1980's.  He is not sure when :)

He came to Apopka, Florida in February 1986.   He worked at the Country Club of Mt. Dora where his sister Shirley was the manager. He lived in Deland for a while. Then in 1987, he began working in the construction field for building contractor Mike Susewitt and has been there ever since.  They have built at least 50 log cabins and all of the Swiss Ski Chalet, a beautiful upscale development  in Clermont. He enjoys his job and working daily with his friend and co-worker Brian. He is god father to Brian's adorable daughter Cathy.

Walt loves to watch sports on tv.  He is the captain of the remote control.  He likes to bowl.  He enjoys collecting coins which was also a favorite hobby of his dad.  He likes to go on gambling trips to Biloxi or Vegas or Tunica.  He likes going out on the gambling boats.  I sometimes accompany him. He also likes going to the dog and horse tracks.  He loves music.  He plays a mean "Air Guitar" and knows the name of every rock band and all the members of the band and all the songs they ever did. He used to go to quite a few concerts, but does not get to many anymore. He loves to spend time with his family and they quite often vacation together.

Walt is what I would describe as a "Cool" guy.  He is very laid back.  Not much gets him upset.  He is his own man.  He doesn't care what any one thinks of him.  He is content with himself.  He has a lot of integrity.  He never misses a day of work because he doesn't want to "let the guys down".  He comes up with all kinds of sayings which I have come to call "Walt-isms".  He is pretty good at answering questions on Jeopardy. He likes old tv shows and mysteries.  He likes movies but is not thrilled with some of the new ones.   He is a good cook and a lot of fun to be around.

 He is so strong.  I don't believe he knows his own strength.  His hands are large and powerful.  He is honest as the day is long.  Walt has a way of helping me solve problems by cutting through all the superfluous details  directly to the bottom line.  He has a basic approach that makes dilemmas seem simple to solve.  I have learned a lot from him.  I have learned not to take myself so seriously and to enjoy the moment. We laugh a lot.

He was a great help to me when my sister Ginny was ill and we were  caring for her at home.  She loved him as do I.

He has blended in with our family seamlessly. Not to say that we haven't had our ups and downs. Not too many others could have fitted in with us as he has( we can be a little difficult at times).  Nor would we have wanted them to.  He is the perfect guy for me. Everyone seems to like Walt.  He is just a really nice guy and I am a lucky girl.

I love you , WaWa. I  Hope I will always be your "Sweet-um-cakees".

VXA

Post Script: It is with the greatest sadness that I add to this website the fact that Walter passed away on May 5, 2008.  He will forever live in my heart and in the hearts of those who knew and loved him.

You can contact me at vxarmstrong@gmail.com

Please don't forget to sign Walt's guestbook.

Also please visit our other family websites. The links are listed below.