Mistaken Identity

“The reports about my death were greatly exaggerated.” Walter O’Malley could have used this old comedians’ line when it was printed in the newspaper on December 25, 1930 that he was “REPORTED KILLED.” Though no laughing matter, the article stated, “A report which could not be confirmed last night said that Walter Francis O’Malley, president of the senior class of the University of Pennsylvania in 1926, was killed yesterday in an automobile accident near Hudson, N.Y.

“O’Malley was a son of Edward F. O’Malley of Amityville, L.I., Commissioner of Public Markets of New York. As an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania he was president of his class in both its junior and senior year, a member of the Friars Society and Theta Delta Chi Fraternity.”

Thank goodness, the report was obviously erroneous.

SOURCE: DECEMBER 25, 1930, PENNSYLVANIA