Kathleen Elizabeth “Betty” Lamont Maloney Leaf

Kathleen Elizabeth “Betty” Lamont Maloney Leaf, 95, passed away at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital on November 29 after a brief illness. Betty was born in St. Augustine, Florida on September 7, 1922, to Kathleen Chambers Lamont and Clarence Arnold Lamont.  She attended Florida State University and studied fashion merchandising at Tobe-Coburn School in New York, where she lived during World War II.   She and Ed Maloney moved to Beaumont in 1959, where Ed Maloney was the president of The White House department store.   Betty was active at St Mark’s Episcopal Church, where she chaired the grounds committee for over 50 years, and at All Saint’s Episcopal School since its founding.  She was an active member and former president of the Magnolia Garden Club, a former director of the Garden Club of America and recipient of the club’s Medal of Merit. She chaired the Beaumont Library Commission for many years and was the Grounds Chairman of the Tyrrell Historical Library Association.  She served on the boards of Schlesinger’s Geriatric Center and the Beaumont Children’s Home (now Buckner’s Children’s Village). She was an avid supporter of Nutrition & Services for Seniors and The Humane Society of Southeast Texas.

Betty became a registered landscape architect in 1971 and was happiest working in her garden. Her projects over a long career helped beautify her beloved city. Her own garden is included in the Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Gardens. 

She was honored by the City of Beaumont in 2003 when they proclaimed September 9 “Betty Leaf Day” in appreciation for her decades of effort. Betty Leaf will be remembered for her grace and determination. She would see a need and never an obstacle.  She saw only opportunities. Betty was a mentor to a wide circle of friends of all ages and backgrounds.

She is preceded in death by her husbands, Edward James Maloney and Ralph Aquila Leaf, and by her brother, William Maximilian Lamont.

Survivors include her sons, James Edward Maloney and his wife Laurie, and Carey Chambers Maloney and his husband Hermes Mallea, and her grandson, Carey Chambers Maloney II.

The family wishes to thank Edna Morris and Linda Patterson, her caregivers, for their wonderful care and affection, as well as her devoted friends, Regina Broussard Winegar and Dr. Leon and Martha Hicks.

A gathering of Betty’s family and friends will be 4:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m., Friday, December 1, 2017, at Broussard’s, 2000 McFaddin Avenue, Beaumont. Her funeral service will be 11:00 a.m., Saturday, December 2, 2017, at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 680 Calder Avenue, Beaumont, with a reception to follow in the Cloister.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St Mark’s Episcopal Church, 680 Calder Avenue, Beaumont, Texas 77701; The Humane Society of Southeast Texas, P.O. Box 1629, Beaumont, Texas 77704; or Nutrition and Services for Seniors, 4590 Concord Road, Beaumont, Texas 77703.