Lucille Malouche, 97
Lucille Carmella Malouche, an active member of the Montauk community who was a nurse and lieutenant commander in the Navy during the Korean War and World War II, died at the United Hebrew Geriatric Center in New Rochelle, N.Y., on Nov. 20, 2017, at the age of 97.
Ms. Malouche was born in Highland, N.Y., on Aug. 28, 1920. After attending elementary school in Yonkers and graduating magna cum laude from New Rochelle High School, she spent two years at Hunter College before studying at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Manhattan to become a registered nurse.
In 1943, Ms. Malouche joined the Navy as an ensign and served at St. Albans Naval Hospital in Queens. She spent 18 months at the Camp Lejeune military training facility in North Carolina that year, and later worked as a Navy nurse at a hospital in Seattle.
Upon her discharge in 1946, Ms. Malouche worked as a private nurse in California for a year and then returned to the East Coast to attend New York University, where she received a bachelor of science degree in 1950. She also began working in public health.
The Navy recalled her in 1951 during the Korean War. Her second discharge was in 1952 and she remained in the Naval Reserve until retiring in 1980. In 1997, she was honored at the dedication of the Women In Military Service for America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery.
Following her second stint in the Navy, Ms. Malouche returned to New York University, receiving a master’s degree in 1955 and a professional certificate in 1959. She dedicated the remainder of her professional career to working as a nurse in the New Rochelle public schools, retiring in 1977.
Ms. Malouche bought land in Montauk in 1968 and built a house there two years later. She made Montauk her permanent residence following her retirement, also spending time in Mount Vernon, N.Y. Her winters were often spent visiting her mother, Lena Malouche, in Florida. After her mother’s death, in 1989, she began traveling to Hawaii to visit her friend Virginia Pion.
In 2004, Ms. Malouche sold her Montauk house and moved to the Montauk Manor. She was a member of the Montauk Village Association, Concerned Citizens of Montauk, the Friends of the Montauk Library, and the Montauk AARP. She was also on the committee that started the senior nutrition center at the Montauk Playhouse Community Center.
Ms. Malouche’s family said she was a devoutly spiritual person. She was a member of St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church in Montauk and the Altar Rosary Society in Honolulu. She is survived by a brother, William Malouche of Greenville, S.C., two nephews, a niece, and many cousins. She was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx on Dec. 11, 2017, receiving full Naval honors at the gravesite. A memorial Mass will be said at St. Therese of Lisieux on May 5 at 11 a.m.