Charles Joseph Malatesta, the son of Lawrence and Margaret (Peter) Malatesta, was born on July 28, 1916, in Mattoon, Illinois. He attended St. Joseph Grammar School in Mattoon and received his secondary education at Routt College High School, Jacksonville, Illinois (1931-32) and at Cathedral High School, Indianapolis, Indiana (1932 -35). Upon graduation he attended Providence College, Providence, Rhode Island for two years.

In August of 1937 he entered the Dominican novitiate at St. Rose Priory, Springfield, Kentucky, where he was given the religious name Reginald and where he made his first profession of vows on August 16, 1938. He was immediately transferred to the Dominican House of Studies, River Forest, Illinois, for his philosophical studies (1938-41) and

obtained a B. A. and M.A. in philosophy. When the Province of St. Albert the Great was established on December 22, 1939, he elected to become a member of the new Province. After making his solemn profession on August 16, 1941, Father Malatesta continued with his theological studies at River Forest (1941-45) and was ordained a priest there on June 8, 1944.

Father Malatesta's first assignment was to St. Dominic Parish, New Orleans, Louisiana, as assistant pastor (1945-48). In 1948 he was transferred to St. Vincent Ferrer Parish, River Forest, Illinois, where he served as assistant pastor and also began doctoral studies.

In 1957 Father Malatesta returned to River Forest, Illinois, to take up residence at St. Vincent Ferrer Parish and to begin an eleven-year ministry as a Mission Band Preacher. During this time he nourished his interest in spirituality by attending the summer courses at the Institute of Spirituality at the Dominican House of Studies in River Forest. In 1959 he was assigned to St. Albert the Great Parish, Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he continued his preaching ministry and was head of the Northern Mission Band (1963-68). In l 968 he returned to New Orleans as chaplain at Dominican College for two years. After a sabbatical year he became one of the founding members of the Province's House of Prayer at St. Joseph Priory, Dallas, Texas (1971-72).

The Province called him to take on administrative duties in l 972 as Promoter of Studies for the Province, a service which he carried out for two years. He was then asked to serve as the Province' s Promoter of the Dominican Laity (19 74-79). During these years of administrative service he resided in several of the Chicago houses. In 1979 he joined the staff of Blessed Sacrament Parish, Madison, Wisconsin, as assistant pastor for three years, and was then transferred to St. Vincent Ferrer Parish, River Forest, Illinois, as a part-time assistant where he served for another three years. In l 986 Father Malatesta joined the chaplain staff at the Dominican Motherhouse, Sinsinawa, Wisconsin, ministering to the Sisters there and at St. Dominic Villa, Dubuque, Iowa, until l 990 when he was assigned to limited service with residence at St. Dominic Priory, St. Louis, Missouri. There he engaged in various part-time ministries outside the community and served the studentate community in several internal capacities.

While in St. Louis Father Malatesta was diagnosed with cancer and by March of 2000 his health had reached the point at which the St. Louis community could no longer adequately care for him. He was then transferred to the Province's Juan Macias Care Center at St. Thomas Aquinas Priory, River Forest, Illinois, where he continued to reside until his death. Although the cancer went into remission for a time, it became active again in the summer of 2001. This together with renal failure led to his death on the evening of September 17, 2001. On September 20, 2001, his funeral Mass was celebrated at St. Thomas Aquinas Priory and he was buried in the Dominican Plot at All Saints Cemetery, Des Plaines, Illinois.