Shaun F. O’Malley, 79, a former chairman of the U.S. division of Price Waterhouse, died Feb. 25 of metastatic melanoma at his home in Chestnut Hill.
Mr. O’Malley joined the accounting firm in 1959 in Philadelphia and worked in the New York and Japan offices prior to being elected U.S. firm chairman in 1988. He served as U.S chairman from 1988 to 1995 and was also world firm co-chairman from 1994 to 1995, the year he retired.
He led Price Waterhouse during an era of increasing consolidation and massive technological change, and he fostered greater global integration as the firm moved into new markets in emerging economies.
Mr. O’Malley was also a leader in promoting greater auditor accountability and, at the request of the SEC and Public Oversight Board, served as chairman of the Committee on Audit Effectiveness. Following publication of that committee’s findings, he testified before the Senate Finance Committee during deliberations that led to the Sarbanes-Oxley law.
He was a member of many boards and audit committees, including the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), Monell Chemical Senses Center, Horace Mann Educators Group, Philadelphia Insurance Company, the Philadelphia Contributionship, the Philadelphia Beltline Railroad, and the Finance Company of Pennsylvania.
In addition, he served on the boards and audit committees of many organizations, including the Curtis Institute of Music, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Pennsylvania Health System, the Wharton School, Chestnut Hill College, Springside School, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia Finance Committee, the Canterbury School, and the Committee of Seventy.
He was also a member of many social clubs and organizations, including the Philadelphia Club, The Rabbit, The Brook (N.Y), the Philadelphia Cricket Club and Sunnybrook Golf Club. He was a member of Our Mother of Consolation Church.
Born and raised in Chestnut Hill, he attended Waldron Mercy Academy and the Canterbury School. He received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was president of Zeta Psi Fraternity and active in the Penn Players.
He served with the 1st Guided Missile Battalion, Army Ordinance Corps, in Mainz, Germany in 1953 and 1954.
Mr. O’Malley is survived by his wife, Lyn Buchheit; a son, Brendan H. O’Malley; daughters Sibyl H. O’Malley and Aine O’Malley Pappas; a step-daughter, Megan K. McNamara; brothers W. Gresham O’Malley III and Hillaire J. O’Malley; sisters Mrs. Wallace Cooney and Kristin Russo, and five grandchildren. Mr. O’Malley’s first wife, Sibyl Julia O’Malley, preceded him in death.
A private funeral was held Feb. 28 in Philadelphia. A memorial will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 25, at Our Mother of Consolation Church in Chestnut Hill.
Memorial donations can be made to the Curtis Institute of Music, 1726 Locust St., Philadelphia, PA 19103, or to support Dr. Lynn Schuchter and the melanoma program at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Medicine Development, Att: Laura Ferraiolo, 3535 Market St, Ste 750, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (make checks payable to Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania). – WF
