Johnny Cecil Malone, 80, former managing editor of The Jackson Sun, passed away on July 22, 2022, in Jackson. A short, simple graveside service was held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, July 26, at East Laurel Baptist Church Cemetery in the Harts Bridge Community of Madison County. Lawrence-Sorensen Funeral Home is in charge of services. The family requests any memorials be given to Jackson-Madison County Library, Chester County Library, to your church or any worthy charity.
He was born on April 10, 1942, in Selmer, son of Cecil G. Malone, a postal Clerk, and Nelda Weaver Malone, a grammar schoolteacher. He was reared in the Sweet Lips Community of Chester County.
He attended Henderson Elementary School and graduated from Chester County High School in 1960 as co-valedictorian. He was an honors graduate of Freed-Hardeman in 1962. He transferred to the University of Missouri School of Journalism at Columbia, graduating in 1964 as an outstanding male graduate. While in high school, he wrote for the Chester County Independent. At Missouri he held various writing, teaching and copy-editing positions in connection with the Columbia Missourian, a community newspaper published by the University of Missouri.
He joined The Jackson Sun upon graduating from college. He worked at The Sun until retiring in 1997, serving as a reporter, state editor, copydesk chief, book editor, managing editor and, finally, as news editor.
He was highly regarded for his mentoring of newsroom colleagues and took pride in their journalistic accomplishments. He was a member of the Tennessee National Guard, reaching the rank of sergeant in the 230th Signal Battalion before completing his service in 1971.
He married Judy Irene Mainord on April 17, 1972, and they reared two sons, Johnny Jr. and William Jason. They were married almost 49 years before her death Feb. 2, 2020. They maintained homes in Jackson and at the ancestral family farm at Sweet Lips in Chester County.
He was a longtime book collector, and after retiring from The Sun, he worked for a time for Old Volume Bookstore owned by Lloyd Russell. Afterward, he and his wife operated an internet bookstore for more than 25 years.
He is survived by his sons; his brother, Danny (Mary) of Collierville; a granddaughter, Alexus Victoria Malone; and two nieces, Cyndi Malone of Gallatin and Melanie Allgyer of Collierville.
