Mallon, Charlene K. 1939-2024 St. Joseph, Mo.
By NewsPress Now
Charlene Kay (Younger) Mallon, 84, died Jan. 4, 2024. Kay was born in St. Joseph in 1939 and married John Mallon in 1962.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Teresa (Dandurant) and Woodson Clark Younger, and her brother, Norman (Bud) Younger.
She is survived by her husband; her children, Teresa van Tiel (Pieter), of Vollèges, Switzerland, Sean, of Alexandria, Virginia, Magdalene, of Seattle, Washington, and Timothy, of Geneva, Switzerland; and her grandchildren, Laura, Nina, and Chloe van Tiel, Alexandra and Spencer Soccio-Mallon, and Isadora Foxen. She is, also, survived by two sisters, Connie Swymeler, Kim Fitzpatrick; and numerous nieces and nephews. She will be dearly missed.
Kay attended St. Francis Xavier elementary school, graduated from the Convent of the Sacred Heart, in St. Joseph, in 1957, and from Duchesne College, Omaha, Nebraska, in 1961. She was the first woman on either side of her family to go to college.
Kay taught for a year in Omaha before marrying and becoming a homemaker. In 1972, John and Kay moved their young children to Geneva, Switzerland, where they lived for 15 years, returning to the U.S. in 1987. Kay loved her time in Switzerland and she and John traveled extensively with their children.
She and John opened their home to many visitors who made it over to see them and were wonderful hosts. They were very active in Cursillo during those years.
She continued her love for the French language when they returned to Peoria, Illinois.
In 1992, Kay obtained her Master’s Degree in counseling from Bradley University in Peoria, and worked as a counselor. She became a Benedictine oblate in November 1998. In 2005 they moved back to St. Joseph and enjoyed family, old friends, new friends and home.
Kay loved ballroom dancing, going for walks, and keeping the family history.
She had deep faith and conveyed it always with her warm smile and joyful heart.
The funeral mass was held at St. Francis Xavier Church, in St. Joseph, on Tuesday, Jan. 9, at 10 a.m.
Memorial contributions can be made to St. Francis Xavier Church in St. Joseph. As published in the St. Joseph News-Press.
