Malcolm Creighton found peace Monday afternoon, September 8, 2025, at his home in Mequon, WI. He was 98 years old. Malcolm was born in Juniata (a neighborhood within Altoona), Pennsylvania on December 17, 1926, son of William Malcolm and Mary Losh (nee Probst) Creighton. His father was a railroad worker and his mother a homemaker. Their house was near the Pennsylvania Railroad Shops. Malcolm was the oldest of 5 sons. He grew up in Juniata during the depression. Money was scarce and they grew a lot of their own food. Nothing was thrown away. He played violin through high school and was a “swell guy” according to his year books. Malcolm graduated from Juniata High School in 1944 and immediately enlisted in the Navy when he turned 18. He served through the duration of WWII plus 6 months starting with boot camp in Sampson NY, Fleet sonar school in Norfolk, VA for morse code, and then Key West FL for sonar school. He was assigned to a destroyer which traveled to Okinawa and Japan with a task force of 21 destroyers, 2 carriers and 2 cruisers in preparation for the invasion of Japan. Two days out of Okinawa, the Japanese surrender was announced.
Following discharge from the Navy in July 1946, Malcolm moved to Milwaukee in 1947 as jobs were more plentiful than in Altoona. Malcolm worked at four different automobile dealerships as a mechanic or service manager. During this time Malcolm joined the fraternal organization of Freemasonry. He met Nancy Fields in 1951, and they were married September 6, 1952. They had a daughter Beth in 1958 and son Ross in 1962. They lived in a small house in Brookfield. Malcolm owned Mal’s Hometown service station on 76th and Nash for several years in the late 1950s/early 1960s. There he met the City Traffic Engineer who recruited him to work as a mechanic at the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) – Schoolboard Garage (7th and Walnut) where they repaired all kinds of MPS vehicles. They moved to a small house in Milwaukee near 82nd and Villard. After several years, Malcolm was recruited from his position as a mechanic with MPS under a “Trade Specialist” program. The program identified experienced tradesmen, sent them to college to obtain teaching credits, and hired them to become teachers of their trades at the high school level. Malcolm received a teaching certificate from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee in 1969 and began teaching auto shop at Boys Technical High School. The same year, Malcolm & Nancy built a new home in Brown Deer and raised their family. Malcolm enjoyed working on endless projects including: home improvements; friends car repair; restoring and enlarging a theater pipe organ initially donated to Boy’s Tech in 1974 and later installed in the Oriental Theater in 1991; and starting to restore an antique 1914 Brush automobile. He also enjoyed classical music, attending organ concerts, deer hunting every year, and going to estate sales. He was cub scout master when no one else would volunteer. He attended numerous boy scout camping trips including a canoe trip in the boundary waters and taking a group of 8th-grade/freshmen Explorer Scouts backpacking in Banff and Jasper in the Canadian Rockies. As both Malcolm and Nancy were teachers and had summers off, family travel throughout the U.S was extensive. Following early tent camping, they purchased a camping trailer in 1968 and dragged it from coast to coast until the kids were grown. Many national and state parks were visited. Peninsula State Park and the Door County area became a favorite in Wisconsin for summer vacations. There were many trips at least once a year to Pennsylvania to visit his family. Malcolm became a Shriner (an appendant body of Freemasonry) in the 1980s and supported their fund-raising efforts for Shriners Hospitals for Children. He retired from teaching in 1992.
Following retirement, he and Nancy bought a single-story ranch home in Mequon that needed work. Several years were spent renovating the house. Malcolm continued to work every Saturday morning maintaining the theater organ and started working on the Brush automobile. He belonged to several antique car clubs and also acquired a 1962 Cadillac convertible. He and Nancy traveled the U.S. extensively each year attending car shows and swap meets and visiting relatives along the way from Philadelphia to Seatle. He and Nancy both judged antique/classic cars at car shows for one of the car clubs. Malcolm loved to drive. He would drive several hours to eat at his favorite restaurant, the Dorf Haus in Roxbury WI (near Sauk City) and take anyone that would go with him. He would also drive house guests up to Door County to eat at Al Johnson’s. Malcolm and Nancy also took several trips to Europe and several cruises to various islands. Malcolm and Nancy made a hobby out of attending estate sales.
Malcolm is survived by son Ross of Cudahy, grandchildren Megan Olund of Milwaukee, Adrienne Olund of Wauwatosa, and Micaela Creighton, Hoboken, NJ. He is further survived by his brothers and sisters-in law Jim & Susie of Valencia CA, Gary & Jean of Holidaysburg, PA, and Barbara Fields of Brown Deer.
Malcolm is preceded in death by his wife Nancy, daughter Beth E. Olund of Brookfield, his Brothers Lynn and Vern, an older un-named sister that died at birth, his brother-in-law John Fields of Brown Deer and sister-in-law Marion Creighton.
Visitation will be from 2 to 4 pm on Saturday September 20th at the Mequon United Methodist Church followed by a funeral service at 4pm. Pastor Sue Lee will preside. Malcolm will be laid to rest in Wisconsin Memorial Park Cemetery.
Memorials, if desired, are suggested to the Shriners Hospitals for Children, Cure Alzheimer’s Fund, Katys Kloset, or a charity of your choice.
