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Proclamation congratulating and recognizing Father Jack O'Malley, recipient of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO Citizen of the Year Award.
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WHEREAS, Father Jack O'Malley is a Pittsburgh native born in 1936 in the Strip District, one of seven children, three sisters and three brothers. He was a member of St. Patrick's Parish until fourth grade when his family moved to the Morningside section of Pittsburgh and then attended St. Raphael's Parish and school. He was an original member of the Morningside Bulldogs Football team in 1950-51. He graduated from Central Catholic in 1954 where he participated in varsity basketball and football. He graduated in 1955 from St. Francis Prep School earning varsity letters in football, basketball and baseball; and
WHEREAS, Father Jack O'Malley attended Saint Francis University on a basketball scholarship and graduated in 1959 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Business, and as president of his class. As a student at St. Francis he captained the basketball team that played in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) at Madison Square Garden in 1958; and
WHEREAS, after graduation, Fr. O'Malley signed with the Detroit Pistons as a free agent, however, he made the decision to enter the priesthood, and in 1965, he was ordained in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and
WHEREAS, Fr. O'Malley served as pastor of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in Manchester during the civil rights era where he began to actively promote social justice, desegregation of education, open housing and measures to eliminate job discrimination. He also helped form the Thomas Merton Center and the Association of Pittsburgh Priests; and
WHEREAS, in 2000, Fr. O'Malley became the first Labor Chaplain to the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO. He was awarded the first "Labor Social Activist Award" by the Allegheny County Labor Council and his name is among local civil-rights activists honored on the Freedom Corner Memorial in the Hill District; and
WHEREAS, Fr. O'Malley was inducted into the Saint Francis University Athletics Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame at Central Catholic, the East Boro's Sports Hall of Fame, and the Sports Hall of Fame of Western Pennsylvania;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that Allegheny County Council does hereby congratulate and recognize Reverend Jack O'Malley as the 2014 recipient of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO Citizen of the Year Award. We thank Fr. O'Malley for his leadership and immeasurable contributions to the cause of social justice and human rights.