Joseph Douglas “Joe” Malan

May 24, 1940 – March 19, 2025

Joe Malan was born on May 24th, 1940, and grew up in San Francisco. He graduated from St. Ignatius High School in 1958 and was named San Francisco All City Basketball player. After college, Joe returned to San Francisco and worked for Zellerbach Paper company. While in San Francisco he met Linda Walker, and they were married in 1965 in Yosemite National Park.  Eager to travel, they took a student ship to Germany, where Joe found work with the Overseas Service Corporation and they settled in Nurnberg for a year, followed by another year in Frankfurt. The company then transferred them back to the San Francisco Bay area.

Their daughter Aimee joined the family in 1971, and they were again on the move. This time to Moses Lake with Arden Dairy and soon on to Spokane where Joe became the general manager of Carnation Dairy. Michael joined the family in 1973, and the family home was built in Deer Park. Another company transfer brought them to Seattle where Joe again became the general manager of the Carnation plant. The family lived in Lake Forest Park and this position lasted for 10 years until the company was sold. Facing a too-early retirement, Joe became a food broker, representing companies like Vitamilk and Yami Yogurt and built a home in Edmonds. He volunteered for several organizations including the Edmonds Laebugten Salmon Chapter of Trout Unlimited, and on the board of Salvation Army. Besides his family, fly fishing was his love along with boating on the Sound, exploring the San Juan Islands. There were many wonderful rivers in the NW to fish and a week each summer fishing in Alaska And the love of travel never diminished so there were many far off lands to be explored as well.

Joe passed away on March 19th, 2025. He was preceded in death by his parents, Georgia and Clarence Malan, his brother Harold and sister Joretta, and his son Michael. He is survived by his wife Linda, daughter Aimee and her husband Paul Miner, daughter-in law Betty, and grandchildren Hannah and Isaac Malan, Andrew and Ally Miner.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to the Salvation Army or Special Olympics.

A Memorial Service will be held April 5th, 2025, at 2:30 pm at the Edmonds Yacht Club.