Darrell C. Maluy
Marriages
Beverly (Busgen) - August 28, 1943
Burial Details
Obituaries
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 5 B Death Notice - October 3, 2013
Darrell C. Maluy, 92, Grand Junction, died Sept. 28, 2013, in
Grand Junction.
Visitation will take place from 10 to 11 a.m. Monday at Callahan- Edfast Mortuary. Services will take place from 11 a.m. to noon Monday at the mortuary, followed by burial at 1 p.m. at Grand Junction Memorial Gardens.
Survivors include four daughters, Trudy Kareus and Cindy
Baker, both of Boulder, Patty Christopher of Highlands Ranch,
and Nancy Prosence of North Salt Lake City, Utah; three sisters, Marilyn Pacheco and Lee Ann Blaney, both of Grand Junction, and Phyllis Likes of Springville, Utah; 15 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to Tieg’s Foundation at
www.crowdrises.com/tiegswalk2013.
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 3 D Death Notice - October 6, 2013
Darrell C. Maluy
December 15, 1920 – September 28, 2013
Darrell C. Maluy was born on December 15, 1920, to Clem and Mary Maluy on the family homestead in New Liberty, Colorado.
Darrell was the eldest of four children and he and his three little sisters lived with their parents in what was fondly referred to as the "little shack" until he left home to attend Mesa State College in 1937. The stories that he told of his growing up years in the lower Grand Valley were epic and will never be replicated again in our safe and sanitized world of the 21st century. He worked like a man when he was a lad to help his father and grandfather reclaim the desert and turn it into productive farm land. But he also found time for big adventures. He regaled his children and grandchildren with
tales of his growing up years, like taking off on his horse
when he was 12 to visit friends on Baxter Pass for two weeks, camping along the way. Or breaking his arm in many places when he fell out of a tree when he was seven and, because it wouldn't heal correctly,
having to endure Dr. Orr breaking and re-breaking his arm over and over to get it to heal "straight". Or getting bit by a rabid dog and suffering through a series of rabies shots. Or shopping in the big city of Grand Junction, which involved riding in the horse and buggy with his mom on the dirt road leading from Mack to Fruita (a three hour buggy ride) and then leaving the horse and buggy at the livery and boarding the Interurban trolley that ran between Fruita and Grand
Junction, with stops along the way. They would get a hotel room in Grand Junction and then head back to the farm the next day. Darrell was bedazzled by the electric lights in Grand Junction as there was no electricity on the home place for many years. He talked often of looking out over the Grand Valley from his perch on his horse high up on a bluff at night and seeing only pinpricks of light scattered
intermittently from the Utah border to the base of the Grand Mesa.
Darrell was an outstanding student athlete while attending
Fruita Monument High School and Mesa State College and attended the Colorado School of Mines on a track scholarship where he also played football. He held track and field records at all three schools for many years after his graduation. He enlisted in the United States Air Force during World War II as a second Lieutenant and he met his future wife, Beverly Busgen, while in California. They married on August 28, 1943, and moved back to the family farm in 1946,
where he worked along side his dad while also keeping his hand in mining and geology. In 1956, Darrell moved his family to Grand Junction in order to pursue mining full time. By 1956, he and Beverly had four daughters and a much anticipated and beloved little boy, Dwight Darrell "D.D.". In April 1959, tragedy struck the family when D.D. was struck and killed by a car. Darrell and his business partner, David Sigismund, started Sigma Mining Company in the late '50's and had operations across the West for many years. The families of both men were based in Grand Junction and Darrell and David would come home every two weeks
to spend time with their clans. The children of mining enginees during that time had a special bond and the Maluy children still count as their own brothers and sisters the children of Bob and Belle Daniels and those of David and Anne Sigismund, with whom they spent many long summer days. In addition to uranium mines in Utah and Wyoming, Darrell would eventually open up other mines across
the west, including gold mines in Mexico and coal mines in Jackson County, Colorado. He also developed subdivisions in Mesa County, including Roberson Manor in Fruita and Canyon Creek on the Redlands.
Beverly became ill in the late 80's and Darrell retired to ca re for her. He stayed by her side and was her loving and steadfast caregiver until she passed away in 2004. His family was devoted to him and they will never run out of stories of his many feats over the years, from strolling across the tarmac of Walker Field in Grand Junction carrying the engine of his 182 Cessna in his huge arms
when he was in his 60's to being the oldest active E-Trader in the world until his death. He was bigger than life...the "blond Adonis" to reporters who recorded his athletic prowess while in college and the "real" John Wayne to those who watched him calm a skittish colt or sooth a sick child or organize the "troops" at a large mining operations. He was still beating all of his kids and grand kids at Scrabble and cribbage and pinochle until a few weeks before his death and none of his family will ever be able to drive past a road cut on the highway without pausing to ponder the geologic eras
contained in those wondrous layers, thanks to his patient tutorials on minerals and geology.
At the end of his life, Darrell suffered from cardio pulmonary heart disease exacerbated by years in the uranium mines. Many days were a hard struggle but when asked how he was doing, he would always say "great!". If pressed, he would simply reply "you just have to tough it out, pal". And that's exactly what he did.
Darrell is survived by his sisters, Lee Ann Blaney and Marily n
Pacheco of Grand Junction, and Phyllis Like of Springville, Uta h;
daughters, Trudy Kareus, and Cindy (Lynn) Baker of Boulder,
Colorado; Patty Christopher of Highlands Ranch, Colorado, and Nancy (Paul) Prosence of North Salt Lake, Utah; grandchildren, Eric
(Andrea) Kareus, Matt (Maggie) Kareus, Tyson Baker, MacKenzie (Jamie) McCoy, David Christopher, Cassidy (Danny) Back, Dylan Darrell (Ashley) Christopher and Tally, Hattie, Misha, Sasha, Emma, Alvina and Leah Prosence, and great-grandchildren, Eva, Lucie Kareus and Pearl Kareus; Madeline, James and Molly McCoy; Logan Hanson, and Kurt Jayden Christopher.
His wife, Beverly, a son, Dwight Darrell Maluy, and a
grandson,Tieg Baker, preceded him in death.
Visitation will take place from 10 - 11:00 a.m. on October 7 at
Callahan-Edfast Mortuary. A celebration of Darrell's life will follow from 11:00 a.m. to noon followed by burial at Grand Junction Memorial Gardens at 1:00 p.m.
Memorial contributions maybe made to
www.crowdrise.com/tiegswalk2013.
