John J. O'Malley was born in Brooklyn, NY. His parents are John T. and Patricia A. O'Malley (deceased).
Living briefly in Dumont, he grew up in Westwood with his brothers Tim, Dan, Kevin and his sister Kathy.
John is survived by his wife Nancy and his 2 tremendous sons, Johnny and Dylan. They live in an amazing neighborhood in Rocky Point, NY with the BEST neighbors and friends.
He loved tropical fish and began learning everything he could. We grew up with some spectacular displays that we grew accustomed to seeing in all their glory and not really understanding the amazing genius we had in our presense who created them.
He was a Class of '78 graduate of Westwood Regional High School in Bergen County, NJ. One of his first jobs was in the town's pet store working in the fish departmart. He worked at a place called Reef Encounter on Route 4 in Paramus and he excelled there. He has set some amazing displays for people in their homes.
He was a professional photographer and expert on tropical fish, especially cichlids. He was a regular contributor to Aquarium Fish. He worked with them regularly from 88 to 95 (much of this work was his photography). He wrote an article called "Setting Up Your First Saltwater Aquarium" in the very first issue (Sept/Oct 88). He also wrote the Saltwater Q&A column from 1988 until 1994.
His photos were on the following covers:
Sept/Oct 88; Feb 89; Apr 89; June 89
Oct 89; Aug 89; Dec 89
Feb 90; Apr 90; Jun 90
Nov 91
Jan 92; Feb 92
Mar 93; May 93
Mar 94
He was HUGE fan of the Yankees, GIANTS and Nets. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of movies
and was an avid fan of Kung Fu movies.
John was not enthusiastic about funerals and would not want people to mourn him but to remember him as the kind, caring and intelligent man he was.
For those of us lucky enough to have known John we will all have plenty of great memories to share and cherish.