More than 40 years in the antique furniture business gave Mildred O'Malley an enviable knack for spotting value and quality. "I think she developed this skill over many years -- it's not something that everyone is good at," said her son, the Rev. Jack O'Malley, the Pennsylvania state chaplain for the AFL-CIO. Mrs. O'Malley, the mother of seven, grandmother of 13, great-grandmother of 29 and great-great-grandmother of one, died on Sunday, May 30, 2004, at the Vincentian deMarillac Nursing Home in Morningside. She was 97. Mrs. O'Malley owned O'Malley's Antique Shop, in Shadyside, for more than 40 years. She didn't originally intend to open the store. "She was running a card shop on Melwood Avenue," her son said. "After a friend brought a rocking chair and asked her to sell it, my mother decided to go into the furniture business." For decades, Mrs. O'Malley traveled across Pittsburgh, usually on buses, buying up used and often valuable furniture and furnishings at estate auctions and sales. "She never stayed in the store much, and she never did learn to drive. It would have made life less hectic if she had learned," said her daughter, Mary Jane Diamantopulos. Yet life always was somewhat hectic in the large O'Malley household. "We grew up above Snoory's Saloon in the Strip District," the Rev. O'Malley said. "The patrons there used to complain because we roller-skated in the apartment." Mildred U. Henry was born in the Hill District in 1906 and graduated from Ursuline Academy. She married Patrick J. O'Malley, a prominent figure in pre-New Deal Strip District Republican politics. He died in 1977. Patrick O'Malley was a close associate of James Cox, the dynamicpriest at St. Patrick's Catholic Church, in the Strip. Cox organized a Depression-era shantytown that served as the staging base for the Rev. James Cox's unemployed army. In December 1931, 60,000 unemployed people rallied at Pitt Stadium, in Oakland, and 12,000 marched to Washington to stage the ill-fated Bonus March in 1932, at which World War I veterans demanded compensation for military service at the height of the Great Depression. Mrs. O'Malley's children said she was a quiet woman. "She talked with her eyes," Diamantopulos said. "If you were up to no good, she just looked at you and could make you cry." But she always was welcoming to people. "She was very even-tempered, always very welcoming and open to all of our friends," the Rev. O'Malley said. Mrs. O'Malley is survived by four sons, the Rev. Jack O'Malley, of Morningside, Mark O'Malley, of Bloomfield, Patrick O'Malley, of Marlton, N.J., and Thomas O'Malley, of Cypress, Calif.; three daughters, Mary Jane Diamantopulos, of Highland Park, Margaret O'Malley, of Morningside, and Patricia Paolini, of Johnstown, Cambria County; a brother, Paul Henry; a sister, Rita Henry; 13 grandchildren; 29 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild. She was predeceased by her husband, Patrick J. O'Malley. Visitation will be from 7 to 9 p.m. today at McCabe Bros. Inc. Funeral Home, 6214 Walnut St., Shadyside, and from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday. The funeral will be held at McCabe's at 11 a.m. Thursday.

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