Memorial Service Held for Roseville Man Shot to Death by Police

Wayne Malone, the Roseville man who was shot to death by city police officers in the hallway outside his Larpenteur Avenue apartment on Nov. 18, was portrayed at his memorial service today as a “family man” devoted to the education of his daughter.

“The most difficult part of this situation has been the way in which Wayne has been misrepresented,” his widow, Gail Malone, said during the service. “We want you to know that the news reports regarding our family were inaccurate. Wayne was a wonderful husband and father.”

Police said that , and shot Malone, 55, outside his second-story apartment after he brandished a pistol at them. The medical examiner ruled that he was struck by two bullets, in the chest and the abdomen.

About 80 of Malone’s family and friends attended the memorial service Thursday morning at Holcomb-Henry-Boom-Purcell Funeral Home. His daughter, Grace, played Annie Lennox’s “Into the West” on clarinet.

Malone was born on Oct. 6, 1956 in Eldorado, Texas and grew up in Arkansas in segregated schools.

“He never forgot how the African-American students were given no help even though they had not been given access to current textbooks or the same technology of their white counterparts,” Gail Malone said. “Still, Wayne believed he was fortunate, and he often talked about his sister Shirley, who inspired him to not give up. … Even when she was sick, she still did her homework. He knew he was lucky and he wanted to help others in return.”

Dr. Curtiss DeYoung, the officiating clergyman who met Wayne and Gail Malone for the first time in the 1980s, said Malone served in the Navy as a military police investigator, winning more than 100 cases.

After the Navy, Malon worked as a manager of security, often working 80 hour weeks, De Young said.

“This was a man whose central commitment in life was to his family,” DeYoung said. “He was always concerned about his family’s safety, security and protection.”

Shortly after Malone’s daughter, Grace, was born in 1991, he lost his security job and decided to stay home and take care of Grace, DeYoung said.

When Grace grew older, Malone volunteered at her elementary school. DeYoung said he’d bring large bags of snacks, buy flowers for her teachers and, occasionally, direct the coming and going of school buses.

“As a testament to Wayne’s involvement and dedication to her school, many of Grace’s teachers are here today,” Gail Malone said. “Wayne’s priority was to ensure that not only Grace, but every student had a chance to learn.”

Malone’s body will be buried with military honors at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating the shooting that led to Malone’s death and has interviewed witnesses, spoken with the officers involved in the shooting, and examined the crime scene.