Obituary of Julia L. Mally

WESTPORT, CONN

Julia Lang Mally, beloved wife, mother and friend, passed away peacefully at home on January 24, 2018, surrounded by the love of family, extended family and close friends. Julia’s brilliance and compassion serves as an inspiration to all whose lives she touched, and her legacy will live on through the words and actions of all who knew her.

A resident of Westport, CT for nearly 50 years, Julia, born in New York City in 1961, was the daughter of the late Frank Lang and of Mary Greer Lang. A 1979 graduate of Staples High School in Westport, CT, Julia met the love of her life, Edward P. Mally, as a student at the University of Pennsylvania, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1983. Julia and Ed shared more than 38 wonderful years together, including nearly 32 years as husband and wife, until her passing. Following the completion of her studies at Penn, Julia pursued a career in finance at Citicorp and at Kidder, Peabody & Co.

Following the birth of her first son, Adam, Julia focused her work on her young child. Soon after the birth of her second son, David, Julia began dedicating a significant portion of her time and boundless energy to many educational, charitable, and community organizations around Westport, CT, where she touched countless lives. Included among those organizations was Earthplace, The Nature Discovery Center, where she served for many years as both a trustee and as president of the board of trustees, the Westport Public Schools PTA, Staples Players, The Westport Young Women’s League, The Westport Women’s Club, and many others. Julia also was a member of the Orrery Society Regional Advisory Council of the University of Pennsylvania Libraries.

With boundless intellectual curiosity and a love of art, nature and education, Julia traveled extensively, visiting nearly 20 countries during the course of her life, and created an extensive library of more than 100,000 photographs. In those travels, Julia visited countless museums, nature centers, state and national parks, churches, synagogues, the world’s great universities, and many historical landmarks. Julia’s love of theater took her to New York City on many occasions to see musical theater productions and dramatic works, and kept her closer to home, to enjoy many local performances at Staples High School, Bedford Middle School, Ridgefield High School, among others. A lover of nature and a defender of our environment, Julia worked to build a passion in our community for nature and the environment through education, experience and action. She labored to educate those around her, as well as those far away, about the resources available around the world to enjoy and experience nature, and Julia supported the work of many organizations that seek to keep our natural environment and our animals healthy and safe.

In addition to her husband, Julia is survived by her sons, Adam Mally and David Mally, her mother, Mary Greer Lang, and her brothers Frank F. Lang and Gerald G. Lang, as well as by many in-laws, nieces and nephews, and cousins.

A memorial service to celebrate the life of Julia Mally was held at Temple Israel, Westport, CT on January 28, 2018, and a burial followed at Willowbrook Cemetery on January 29, 2018. Memorial donations may be made to Earthplace, The Nature Discovery Center, 10 Woodside Lane, Westport, CT 06880 (earthplace.org) and to The Whittingham Cancer Center at Norwalk Hospital, 34 Maple Street, Norwalk, CT 06856 (www.norwalkhospital.org).

The Abraham Green Funeral Home of Fairfield directed the arrangements.