Annette O’Malley, the wife of former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Peter O’Malley, passed away at her home in L.A. on Wednesday at 81 years old, the club announced.
Annette helped promote baseball globally during the O’Malley’s ownership of the Dodgers, making trips more than 25 trips to Japan, along with promoting the game in South Korea, Canada, China, the Dominican Republic, Russia, Haiti, Netherlands, Mexico, Taiwan and Venezuela, according to the Associated Press.
A graphics and design major, she studied at Academie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris and the Croydon College of Art in London before working as a supervisor and designer at the Royal Theater in Copenhagen, per the AP. She later worked designing cards and wrapping paper for Caspari.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are saddened by the passing of Annette O’Malley. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Peter, the O’Malley family and friends. pic.twitter.com/QzEBm7lGMH
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 21, 2023
Annette married Peter O’Malley in 1971 in her hometown of Copenhagen, Denmark, before returning to Los Angeles to help with the ownership of the Dodgers and make their home.
She was a regular at Spring Training while the Dodgers trained in Vero Beach, Florida, and spent time with the players and their families.
She is survived by Peter O’Malley, her husband of 52 years, her children Brian, Katherine and Kevin, her sister Merete Lunn and eight grandchildren.
The Dodgers and the O’Malley family
The O’Malley family has a long history with the Dodgers, which included moving the club from Brooklyn to L.A. under the ownership of Walter O’Malley in 1958.
Walter owned the club from 1950 until he passed away in 1979, leaving the team to his son, Peter. Walter also held a minority stake in the team beginning in 1944.
The team stayed under the O’Malley family’s control with Peter until he sold the team to Rupert Murdoch in 1998, citing the new economics of the sport as a reason for the sale.
Under the O’Malley’s ownership, the Dodgers won six World Series titles, 13 National League pennants, eight NL West Division titles and one Wild Card Berth.
In 1997, Fortune magazine named the Dodgers as as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work for in America,” and they were the only sports team to be selected. It was the third time they had received the recognition after being named in 1984 and 1993.
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