Jennifer Malone

Jennifer Lea Malone was born in Missoula, Montana on December 18, 1971, to Daniel J. and Catherine D. Malone. From day one she was precocious. She started talking at six months and never stopped. She moved to Billings at age four and attended Catholic school there, graduating from Billings Central High School in 1990. From a young age she developed a deep love for animals, with a special fondness for cats and horses. She was always an avid reader, which fed her later love for writing. Jennifer attended the University of Montana-Missoula where she earned a degree in communications with a minor in history in 1995. Jennifer worked for Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation in Missoula before relocating to Texas where she launched her career in communications, marketing, and technical writing in the architectural and engineering fields. She began working in publications for Carter and Burgess in 2001 and went on to become managing editor of publications for Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. As her role in the company’s communication division expanded so did the scope of her global contacts, earning her the title of Most Networked Woman in the World by her close colleagues. She oversaw the production of annual reports and sustainability reports for Jacobs from 2009 to 2016.
Jennifer’s passions extended beyond her professional work. She loved the Texas music scene and never missed a chance to hear live music. She immersed herself in fiction writing with a particular penchant for historical romance. She loved the outdoors, and her deep connections to Montana’s beauty and to family drew her back to her home state. Over the past several years Jennifer pursued her interest in photography, capturing the panorama of Montana sunsets, the secret lives of birds, and the tender beauty of a single flower. Her artistic eye shaped her view of the world and allowed those who knew and loved her to more fully appreciate the splendor of the world around them.
Jennifer dearly loved her family. She was a beloved daughter, sister, granddaughter, niece, and aunt. She was known as “Titi” to her adoring nieces Olivia and Macie and nephew Grady Olson. She was always up for baking cookies, playing the latest board games, getting up to her elbows in art projects, and attending soccer games, gymnastic performances, and Taekwondo matches. The Megan and Erik Olson family home was a centerpiece of her life and became her favorite refuge over the past two years as she faced the rigors of cancer treatment. She also treasured her close connections with her Malone cousins and her large extended family.
Jennifer’s love of family and Montana was closely matched by her love of sports. She was an avid Griz fan, a diehard Patriots fan, and a fantasy football aficionado. Her true passion, though, was for horses. From the time Secretariat won the Triple Crown, Jennifer fell in love with horse racing. She followed the horses with a keen eye and built an encyclopedic knowledge of horses, trainers, jockeys, and the racing world over the years. She enjoyed a number of trips to the Santa Anita racetrack and sometimes walked away a winner. She fulfilled a lifelong dream in the summer of 2018 when she and her mother visited the horse farms of Kentucky and she got to be nose to nose with California Chrome.
Her last two years were filled with many health challenges, yet she continued to pursue life with joy and a sense of adventure. She lived life to the fullest each day. She spent as much time in the Montana outdoors and among family and friends as she possibly could. She leaves behind a legacy of friendship, family love, and timeless images of the people and places she treasured.
Jennifer is survived by her mother Cathy Malone, her sister and brother-in-law Megan and Erik Olson, nieces and nephew Olivia, Macie, and Grady Olson; grandmother Barbara Finn; uncles and aunts Don Finn, Janet Finn and Dave Ames, Anne-Marie Finn, and Denis and Joan Malone; cousins Tracy (Mark) Lindemer; Debbie (Keith) Schultz; and Kelly Malone (Harry Wilson), and their children; and a large extended family. She was preceded in death by her father Dan Malone, grandparents Florence and Michael Malone and Tom Finn, and uncles Mike and Jerry Malone and Mick Finn. Memorial donations may be made to Animeals (animeals.com), Foundation for Community Health at Community Medical Center (designate Hilda’s Room), or Old Friends Equine Farm (oldfriendsequine.org). Jennifer’s family are especially grateful for the care at St. Patrick’s Hospital, the support of the Montana Cancer Center and its palliative care staff, and the compassionate end-of-life care at Community Medical Center.
A memorial Mass will be celebrated on Monday, September 24, 2018, at noon in Christ the King Church, 1400 Gerald Avenue, Missoula, with a reception afterward. Interment will take at St. Mary’s Cemetery at 3:30 pm. A gathering of family and friends will follow at 4 pm at the Ames-Finn home, 1337 Phillips Street.