Malia was born in New Orleans as a middle child with two brothers.  Her parents divorced when she was 8 years old and she was raised by a single mother, Bertha. (Learn more about Bertha at  https://www.forevermissed.com/bertha-leblanc-quimby/#about .)  She was a handful as a teenager and left home at the age of 16 to start her journey.  Life was not easy for her and by age 18 she had a daughter.  She relocated to Austin where she had a second daughter.  She became a very skilled legal secretary to support her family and even started her own business as a virtual assistant.  In 1987 Malia made a big decision to move to Hawaii after a visit there where she connected with the islands.  She had no job or place to live but decided it was something she really needed to do.  It was just the first of many brave decisions she was to make in her life.  She survived and thrived in Hawaii.  

Her next life changing event came in 2001 when she decided to buy an RV and travel around the country. A solo woman RVer, who ever heard of that?  If you want to know about her fantastic RV adventures you can read about it in the book she had published Fear Less vs Fearless: The Journey of a Lifetime which is available on Amazon.  Also her website https://maliasmiles.com/ details her travel adventures. She learned along the way how to become brave and take one step at a time to reach her goals. 

A final fearless decision was made in 2018 when she was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer. She chose to not treat her cancer as treatment would almost certainly be fruitless and bring many unpleasant side effects. She wanted to enjoy her life as long as she could.  She also decided to move to Oregon so she could participate in Oregon's Death with Dignity Act when life no longer allowed her to be free.  She made the final choice as her disease finally began to take away her independence.  We are all very thankful for the staff at Asante hospice, especially Holly her Nurse Case Manager, Katie her Social Worker and Mary with Compassion and Choices who helped her through her final journey.

Malia is survived by her daughters Angelique McCravy, Keala Carr and her brother John May (Lois).  She is also survived by two granddaughters Caitlin Chambers and Anna Carr; and two great-granddaughters Cailie and Cadence Nemetsky; a niece Heather Roberts (Gavin); and nephew Kevin May (Vera).  

Malia asked there be no formal service but requested we use this website as a memorial to her.  Please share your feelings, pictures and stories about Malia.