Robert Mallon

On Thursday, January 7, 2021, Robert (Bob) Eugene Mallon went home to be with the Lord. He was 89 years old.

Bob was born on March 10, 1931 in St. Louis, Missouri to Clarence and Olieta (Stephens) Mallon. He graduated from McKinley High School in 1949 and worked as a die repairman for Cupples Products in St. Louis which extruded the aluminum for the Air Force Academy Chapel in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In 1963, he became a plant supervisor for Dow Chemical in Cairo, Illinois which manufactured the aluminum for the St. Louis Gateway Arch. Dow Chemical transferred him to Denver, Colorado in 1969 where he lived until his death. Even though he lived in Colorado for 50+ years, he considered St. Louis his home and the Cardinals his baseball team.

One of Bob’s great passions in life was sports, but he especially loved and excelled at baseball. Before he began a career in extrusion, he received several full-ride scholarships for basketball and baseball from multiple Missouri colleges, but none of those offers could match being drafted by the New York Yankee’s baseball organization. In 1949, Bob signed a contract to play with the Yankees for their farm team which played in the KOM League. When he showed up for training camp, he was assigned to room with a kid from Oklahoma named Mickey Mantle. He used to joke that his one claim to fame was that he “slept” with Mickey Mantle. He was a pitcher, and, according to many who watched him play back in the day, an amazing power hitter. Unfortunately, an injury ended his professional career, but he kept in contact with Mickey over the years and the writers who researched and wrote about Mantle, always contacted Bob to interview him because he had been Mantle’s roommate until Mickey got called up to the majors. He played in the St. Louis Muny Leagues for years and was inducted into the St. Louis Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame in April 1996.

Bob loved baseball, America, his rose garden, his Cadillac, and all things sweet especially ice cream and apple pie, but he cherished his family. Nothing in this world made him happier or prouder than his wife, his children, his grandchildren, and his great-grandchildren. Even in his last years, he enjoyed hearing from his family about what was going on in their careers and with their families and he was never shy about offering “life coaching” advice or sports coaching tips. He is survived by his wife of 70 years, Mary Ann (Wilson) Mallon who he married on November 22, 1950; his three children Linda Wiggs (Skip), Carol Michels (Tony), and David Mallon (Vickie); six grandchildren Christi Garofalo (Mike), Kyle Wiggs (Jenny), Jena Michels, Kelsie Caprioglio (Joe), Lindsay Mallon, and John Mallon (Nikki); and eight great- grandchildren Joey, Sam, and Nick Garofalo, Andrew and Julia Wiggs, and Colt, Callen, and Kinslie Caprioglio.

Arrangements are being taken care of by the Cremation Society of Colorado and the family is requesting that in lieu of flowers please consider making a donation to the COPD Foundation.