Catholic Charities has started selling tickets to this year’s Bishop’s Ball, a premire fundraising event set for Saturday, June 10, at the Jackson Country Club. In addition to dinner, a silent and live auction and dancing will keep the evening lively. During dinner, Bishop Joseph Kopacz will present the Good Samaritan Award to the Maloney siblings, a family whose support of the church spans several generations.
In the 1950s, James C. “Cowboy” Maloney was a residential builder in the Jackson area. With the post-war building boom rapidly transforming Jackson, the contractor and his wife Dolly carved out a comfortable living to support their family of three sons and a daughter: Con, Bridget (Fielder), Eddie and Johnny. As a way to provide better prices for his construction, in 1952 Cowboy and Dolly opened Maloney Supply Company as a local lumber yard, offering building materials at wholesale pricing. Maloney soon realized he had failed to factor in a crucial detail: his targeted consumers – building contractors – were also his direct competition in the construction business. To overcome the hurdle, Maloney retired from the construction business to concentrate on his new retail/wholesale venture. In addition to lumber and building materials, he began selling built-in appliances used in residential construction.
Creative marketing, personal customer service and affordably-priced appliance additions to his lumber lineup helped Maloney Supply flourish. “We quickly evolved to a full-line appliance dealer and from there became a TV dealer when the first television station came on line in Mississippi,” said Con, the eldest of the three Maloney sons who now share the reins of the appliance empire. “It’s the best of worlds, retail-wise,” explains Johnny, who came on board after graduating from Ole Miss in May 1978. “You’ve got Eddie who’s great with finance and Con who’s the best at marketing and I stay in between.”
Bridget no longer works in the family business, but “when she did, she was one of the best sales associates we ever had. She could sell ice to an Eskimo,” Johnny bragged.
Sister Dorothea Sondgeroth, OP, associate executive director of the St. Dominic Health Services Foundation, said the Maloney family is most deserving of this special recognition. “They exemplify their Catholic faith by their actions and involvement in parish functions and their service on various boards within the diocese. Their love for the Church and for community runs deep in the family roots. The Maloney family has been a pillar for St. Dominic’s, the only Catholic healthcare facility in Mississippi and has played an important role in its growth,” she said.
Tickets to the ball are $85 per person. Call 601-326-3758 to reserve seats.