Antonia “Tonie” Schildge Malone, 83, of Middletown, passed away peacefully at her home, Glen Mary Farm, Aug. 10 surrounded by her loving nine children. She was a fighter to the end, staying true to her persona and now is rejoicing in heaven above.
She was born Sept. 17, 1935 in Staten Island, New York where she resided for eight years before settling in Middletown at “the farm” where she raised her children as well. Tonie is the daughter of the late Adam Theodore Schildge and Antoinette Bunce Schildge.
Tonie lived a full life and will be missed by the many people whose lives she has touched in her quest for peace, prosperity, love and hope for all.
She is survived by her brothers George and Ronald Schildge; her nine children, Chris, Mark, Monique, Damian, Michael, Timothy, Bonnie, Paul, Jennifer and their spouses; 26 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. Antonia is preceded in death by her husband and father to her nine children, Christopher E. Malone Jr.; her husbands, Joseph Brennar and John “Jack” Rafter; her parents Adam and Antoinette Schildge; her brothers Theodore and Richard; her sister Elvira; and her grandson Patrick Malone.
She attended Radcliffe College, Seton Hall University, Princeton Theological Seminary and Fordham University.
Tonie was a social justice advocate since her days at Radcliffe, a founding member of the New Jersey Pax Christi and on the Pax Christi USA National Council for six years in the early ’90s during which time she represented the council on the Cry for Justice Coalition that monitored human rights abuses in Haiti. She headed the St. Joseph’s Haiti Parish Twinning Program, which in 1994 inaugurated a microcredit loan program in Pignon, Haiti, giving loans annually to over 3,680 women and 25 men while also supporting a health clinic, a reforestation program and the education of several hundred students at all levels. Once or twice a year, Tonie and a delegation from her parish would travel to Pignon to see how the program was operating and to meet with its loan recipients. One year, Tonie said, “This year they told us, ‘You have done more for us than the government ever has. You have given us hope that we can feed our children and that we can have homes. You have saved our lives.’ ”
From 1986 to 2006 she was a professor at Seton Hall University specializing in the ethics courses The Theology of Peace and Theology of Sexuality and Contemporary Moral Values. During those years she was also the associate editor of the Catholic Peace Voice for which she wrote many articles. In addition, she has authored a book, written for many magazines, contributed various chapters in books, and lectured and presented workshops across the country on peace issues, nonviolence, scripture and microcredit.
Until recently Tonie remained active in the Monmouth Center for World Religions, was an engaged member of the Tinton Falls Rotary Club and, as a decedent of John A. Roebling, was a lifelong member of the Roebling Museum. She loved meeting with friends weekly for a game of bridge, a cup of coffee or visiting with her children and grandchildren. She lived her life to the brim and treasured every waking moment.
Memorial Services will be held Aug. 15 from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at John F. Pfleger Funeral Home, 115 Tindall Road, Middletown. A Funeral Liturgy will be offered at 10 a.m. Aug. 16 at St. Joseph’s Church, 376 Maple Place, Keyport. Burial will follow at Mount Olivet Cemetery Middletown.
In lieu of flowers, please contribute to St. Joseph’s Haiti Parish Twinning Program by visiting the website loans4haiti.org.
