Malachy Jerome Foley

Malachy Jerome Foley, son of the late John P. Foley, Jr., and Margaret T. Schmidt Foley, was born in Belleville, Illinois, on December 25, 1944, and passed away peacefully at his home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, surrounded by family on June 16, 2022. He battled ALS an amazing 12 years and was alert and carrying on conversations until the very end. He was known to family and friends as either “Mal” or “Jerry.”

He graduated from the University of Cincinnati (Ohio) with a B.S. With Honors in Mechanical Engineering in 1968 and immediately entered the Peace Corps. He went to Ecuador, where he was to work on a rural electrification project. When that project was set aside, he taught mathematics at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador as well as computer science and fluid mechanics at the Escuela Politecnica Nacional. Beginning as a high school student in Kettering (Dayton), Ohio, in 1962 Mal (Jerry) developed an interest in computers—long before personal computers.

Shortly after arriving in Quito, he met the love of his life, Carmen Silva, and they married in the town of San Rafael the following August (1969).

Mal (Jerry) and Carmen remained in Ecuador after Jerry completed his commitment to the Peace Corps in 1971. In 1972, they set up their own computer business, Procesamiento de Información. It has been said that the company was IBM’s biggest competitor.

Jerry and Carmen established and nourished Marriage Encounters in Ecuador and are known throughout Latin America as leaders in Marriage Encounters.

As Aileen was nearing high school age, Jerry and Carmen moved to Chapel Hill in 1987, where Mal performed meta-analyses of statistical data for the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Mal is survived by Carmen, his beloved wife of 52 years, and daughters Aileen (Adam Gsegner) and Stephanie (Antonio Vela), both of Durham, NC, and four grandchildren Sofia, Mateo, Lucas, and Nicolas, as well as brothers J. Patrick Foley III, Cincinnati, Ohio, Jeffrey E. Foley (Joan) Columbus, Ohio, and Gregory D. Foley (Jolinda), Athens, Ohio, ten nieces and nephews, eight grand nieces and grand nephews, and one great-grand niece.

Mal attended grade school in Belleville, Illinois, and Alamo Heights (San Antonio) Texas, and high school in Alamo Heights and Kettering, Ohio.

He developed an interest in magic as a ten-year old and continued that avocation throughout his life. He taught seminars on SAS (Statistical Analysis System) for more than two decades. He would attract people by including magic in his act. He was active in Toastmasters, had a good sense of humor, a mischievous smile, liked to tell dad jokes and tease and be teased.

Funeral arrangements provided by Hall-Wynne Funeral Home, 1113 W. Main St., Durham. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the ALS Association- NC Chapter.