PJ Maloney was a news anchor on Pittsburgh radio station KQV for more than 40 years, from its start as an all-news station in 1975 until its demise in 2017.
Dennis Atkinson remained in touch with Maloney after working with him there for eight years, from 1979 to 1987.
“As a broadcaster, I thought he was outstanding,” said Atkinson, 72, of Brighton Heights, who retired from WTAE as an assignment editor in 2016. “As an anchor, he didn’t read the news. He told you the news in a very conversational manner that was very easy for the listener to understand. … It was like your friend was telling you something that happened.”
Maloney, 77, a resident of Pittsburgh’s Shadyside neighborhood, died from complications from leukemia Saturday at UPMC Shadyside hospital.
While Maloney studied journalism at Marquette University, that wasn’t the life his parents planned for him. As the first-born son in an Irish family, he was expected to become a Catholic priest, his son, Brian Maloney, said.
PJ Maloney attended Holy Innocents Catholic School near his home in Sheraden and then St. Meinrad Seminary for high school.
“That was what his mother wanted,” said Brian Maloney, 48, of Highland Park. “He decided that wasn’t the life for him.”
PJ Maloney’s start in journalism was delayed when he was drafted into the military shortly after graduation. He served with the Army in Vietnam.
Brian Maloney said his father was never comfortable with the role of “veteran,” and, knowing firsthand how terrible war is, believed the best way to support the troops was to keep them out of harm’s way whenever possible.
Bob Fragasso, 78, of Bethel Park and founder of Fragasso Financial Advisors, got to know PJ Maloney at KQV, where his business was an advertiser and he would get involved in interviews.
Fragasso and PJ Maloney’s partner of more than 20 years, Sarah McKean, served on the board of Animal Friends.
Fragasso said PJ Maloney was patriotic and loved his country, but from his time in the Army had developed a “healthy skepticism” over government actions.
“He brought that discerning ability to ferret out the truth to his professional work,” Fragasso said. “We have an obligation as citizens to scrutinize the information that’s being fed to us and make informed decisions. That’s why we’re in a democracy.”
Brian Maloney said his father was known for his insightful, no-holds-barred interviews.
“He wouldn’t let people off the hook and get away with saying things that weren’t true or exaggerated. He made sure he fact-checked people in the moment as much as he was able,” he said. “Local politicians knew it was going to be a tough interview but respected him for it.”
Brian Maloney, a lawyer, said he learned from his father to look at the world with a critical eye.
“That’s more important now than ever. There’s so much misinformation in the world,” he said.
In addition to KQV, PJ Maloney was a weatherman for two stints at WPXI in the 1980s, hosted the British comedy lineup and a local sports talk show on WQEX, and taught broadcast news writing at the University of Pittsburgh and Point Park University from the 1990s to early 2000s.
And while PJ Maloney decided early in life that he did not want to be a Catholic priest, he did later become an ordained minister through a correspondence course and officiated weddings, Fragasso said.
PJ Maloney developed a love of local sports from his mother, who was a Penguins season ticket holder since they entered the National Hockey League in 1967. She would also often take him, his brother, Michael, and a carload of kids from their neighborhood to see the Pirates at Forbes Field.
Describing his father as generous, Brian Maloney said they went on many baseball trips to New York, Boston, Los Angeles, San Diego, Detroit and Cleveland.
“A big part of my growing up was doing road trips for baseball games with him,” he said.
PJ Maloney was a board member of the Bloomfield-Garfield Corp. for many years, serving in many ways to help revitalize his neighborhood.
Among his pursuits was seeking a pilot license while in his 70s and completing a solo flight before he was grounded by the onset of leukemia.
Atkinson said he was also an avid cyclist and would ride from his home in Shadyside to KQV’s Downtown studios for his early morning shift. In his early 70s, he used trails and streets to ride to meet Atkinson at a restaurant in Bellevue, which Atkinson found impressive.
Brian Maloney said he, his wife, Cierra, and his father biked the more than 300 miles from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C. on the Great Allegheny Passage over six days in 2011.
Because of PJ Maloney’s outgoing personality, Atkinson said, “PJ” fit the man better than his actual name, Patrick Joseph.
“He was just the kind of person you’d like to be around,” Atkinson said. “Our conversations ran the gamut. We’d talk about politics and sports and movies. He was a great storyteller and a great joke teller. It was a pleasure to spend time with him. You were never bored when you talked to PJ.”
PJ Maloney’s survivors also include his former wife, Dolores Maloney; daughter, Maureen Lynch; and three grandsons.
A memorial service is being planned for the spring. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Bloomfield-Garfield Corp.
Brian C. Rittmeyer is a TribLive reporter covering news in New Kensington, Arnold and Plum. A Pittsburgh native and graduate of Penn State University's Schreyer Honors College, Brian has been with the Trib since December 2000. He can be reached at brittmeyer@triblive.com.
