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Lila Lee Maloney (Née Washburn), passed away unexpectedly and suddenly on Thursday, January 17, 2019 in San Antonio, Texas at the age of 88. Lee was preceded in death by her husband Col. (Ret.) Thomas Russell Maloney III MD, USAF; her daughter, Sean Marie Maloney; her sisters, Eleanor Buss, Georgia Hesse, and Jackie Guild; and nephew Peter Hesse. Lee is survived by her Son, Thomas Russell Maloney IV of San Antonio Texas; her Niece, Valerie Hesse; her Nephews, Steven Guild, Paul Hess, and Barrett Buss; Grand Niece, Alexis Frugé and Great Grand Niece Zoe Ryall, all of California. Lee is also survived by numerous longtime friends and neighbors in her neighborhood of Park Forest where she lived for the last 44 years. Lee was born January 1, 1931 to Manford Washburn and Marie nee Hermanrud Washburn in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. She spent her early years on a farm in Grand Rapids until her father, Manford, passed away when Lee was Six years old. She, her mother Marie and her three sisters then moved to Santa Rosa, California where she attended Santa Rosa High School where she was an excellent student. After High School graduation, Lee furthered her education and graduated from Nursing School. Thereafter, she joined the United States Air Force in May of 1953 during the Korean War and became a Flight Nurse serving 11 years and eventually attaining the rank of Captain. She was very proud of her service and grateful for the opportunity it afforded her to travel the world having been stationed in such locations as Guam, Okinawa, Japan, and Torrejon, Spain, where met her husband Tom. After having her daughter Sean, Lee returned with her family to the United States where Tom was stationed at Lackland Air Force base and her son Tommy was born. Lee and her family then returned to Spain in 1970 where Tom was stationed at Zaragoza AFB until 1972 when Lee and her family returned to United States. Instead of crossing the Atlantic on the return trip to the US, Lee and Tom decided to take the family the opposite direction and visited such countries as Morocco, Kenya, Ethiopia, Greece, Turkey, India, and Thailand. Lee and the family were next stationed at Randolph AFB in San Antonio until 1974 when Tom was transferred back to Lackland AFB and from where he retired in 1986. Lee lived in her house since 1974 and was very grateful that she was able to live independently and do the things she liked to do until her passing. Lee liked to be involved in her community and, over the years, volunteered for organizations such as the San Antonio Library Foundation and County Commissioner Nelson Wolff's first mayoral campaign. Also, she played a role in securing funding from the City of San Antonio for the creation of Orsinger Park. She loved to garden and was able to do so until the day before her passing. An animal lover, Lee adopted many stray cats who made her their human and loved all animals.... Great, and small. Although Lee didn't travel as much as her younger years she still liked to visit places as diverse as London, England, Machu Pichu, and the Amazonian rain forest of Northern Peru, which she did at the age of 68. Lee had a thirst for knowledge and was a voracious reader which gave her the ability to do even the hardest New York Times crossword puzzle. Most of all, Lee loved her friends and family. She loved sharing a good laugh and could tell jokes that even made her son blush. She loved a neighbor stopping by to say "hi" as they were walking with their dogs or children and as she was working in her garden........ SERVICE A Graveside Service with Military Honors will begin at 10:30 A.M. on Thursday, February 7, 2019 at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, 1520 Harry Wurzbach Road. In lieu of flowers, contributions in her memory may be made to the ASPCA ~ https://secure.aspca.org/donate.

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Lila Lee Maloney

January 1, 1931 - January 17, 2019