Today, 4/17/2020 my Grandma (my dad’s mother) would have turned 100. I grew up half a mile from her and my grandfather in the house that they bought in 1948, and owned until she passed away. She was a big part of my life growing up. During high school I spent nearly every Sunday afternoon over there talking with her and Granddad. We had chipped ham sandwiches (it’s a Pittsburgh thing) and “Grandma’s Iced Tea.”

Her iced tea was famous—it is the sweetest sweet tea you’ve ever had. I’ll make you some when you come to Colorado. She had to make gallons of it for every family gathering because we all loved it so much. 

She was an amazing woman that showed love, kindness and understanding to all of her children and grandchildren. Some highlights about Ann Bea Maloy include: 

• Earned her bachelor’s degree from Pitt when few women went to college
• Her best friend was Jewish (this was unheard of, on both sides, for her generation) 
• A savvy investor who understood the time value of money
• A lead foot driver who used her white hair as a tactic to merge at the very front of the traffic
• Doted on her grandchildren through her whole life 
• Loved big gaudy jewelry
• Always said, “we Irish need to stick together”
• An independent woman, growing old was hard for her because everyone always wanted to do things for her!
• And she was truly the matriarch of the Maloy family 

To celebrate her life, we got together today for a family Zoom call and did an iced tea toast. My uncle put picture of her at 20 years old in the frame of his computer. 

Happy birthday Grandma. Thank you for all you did for us, for all you gave to us, and for always being there for us. I love you.