Monsignor William J. Mullen Founding Pastor: 1965-1979 Born: October 8, 1922 Born into Eternal Life: April 29, 2008
This past Tuesday afternoon, April 29th, Monsignor William “Bill” Mullen, our beloved founding pastor,  passed peacefully into the loving arms of God at Brun Home Hospice in Alamo. The Mass of Resurrection for Msgr. Mullen will be this Tuesday, May 6th. Rosary will be at 10:30am followed by the memorial service at 11:00am here at St. John Vianney. The Most Reverend Allen H. Vigneron, Bishop of Oakland, will preside with The Most Reverend John S. Cummins, Bishop Emeritus, concelebrating, along with a number of priest friends. Fr. Frank Houdek, S.J, Monsignor’s long-time spiritual director, will offer the homily. A luncheon reception, hosted by our Bereavement Hospitality Ministry, will follow the liturgy. Our wonderful Mullen Commons courtyard and building, which has enabled us to host and sponsor numerous new programs and social events, was, of course named after our founding pastor.   We are most certain he now enjoys the peace and great joy of eternal life… now reunited with his parents and other loved ones who have gone on before him and reveling in the joy of seeing the luminous face of God. Please remember Fr. Mullen in your prayers of thanksgiving, as well as offering prayer for so many who grieve – including his beloved sister, Leslie, and “CJ” (Cecilia) Tutt, his dear friend and caregiver for many, many years.   What follows is a brief reflection about “Fr. Mullen.” (Many of his long-time friends here at St. John Vianney and throughout the area still refer to him with this title, which he himself seemed to cherish more than the title of Monsignor.) I hope these reflections trigger fond memories for those who have known him and introduce others to a wonderful man with a great sense of humor who so cherished serving God as a priest and who so greatly loved our St. John Vianney parish community. Fr. Mullen served as a priest for over 60 years and continued to offer the Eucharist each day as the quintessential expression of thanksgiving for the life with which God had gifted him.   Born in San Francisco, October 8, 1922, Msgr. Mullen was raised in Berkeley, where the family belonged to St. Joseph the Worker parish. He attended St. Joseph's grammar school, taught by the Sisters of Presentation. After graduating from the eighth grade in 1936, he attended St. Joseph's college junior seminary in Mountain View, California where he began his preparation for priesthood. Upon graduating in 1942, he went to St. Patrick's Seminary in Menlo Park, California and was ordained a priest on June 14, 1947, by Archbishop John J. Mitty in the old St. Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco.   His first appointment was to Mission Dolores church in San Francisco in June of 1947. In September 1950, he was transferred to St. Thomas Aquinas church in Palo Alto, California. After 5 years, he was assigned to St. Basil's parish in Vallejo. In June of 1961, he was transferred to St. Felicitas church in San Leandro. In his early career as an assistant pastor, Msgr. Mullen served as family life director for the new diocese of Oakland from January 1962 to May 1965. In this position, he directed the Cana and Pre-Cana conferences, the Christian Family Movement and founded the Catholic Widows and Widowers organization in the diocese. During this period of time, he was very active in religious education ministry, youth work, marriage counseling, hospital work, and the lay apostate. The new parish of St. John Vianney in Walnut Creek was founded by Bishop Floyd Begin on May 25, 1965. The site of the new parish was the site of the old Marchbank property opposite John Muir hospital. The property had been given to St. Mary's parish of Walnut Creek by Mrs. Marchbank in 1947 on condition that it be given to the new parish. Msgr. Mullen was appointed as the first pastor. The first Mass was celebrated on August 1, 1965 at Walnut Creek Intermediate School.   Monsignor Mullen came up with the design of the church and was able to obtain permission from Bishop Begin to build the church in its present form. (For years, “Fr. Bill” wrote down numerous ideas about the church – storing them in a shoe box!) During his time as pastor, Msgr. Mullen started a teen Folk Mass. The teenagers played all the music for the Mass, served as Eucharistic ministers, and did all the lectoring. This was a first in the diocese. He also was one of the first to incorporate a sex education program in the eighth grade CCD classes. In June of 1979, Msgr. Mullen was appointed pastor of Assumption parish in San Leandro. Although it was very painful for him to leave his beloved St. John Vianney, as an obedient priest he had no choice but to honor the bishop's request. He remained at Assumption parish until March of 1987 when he retired from active duty. From March of 1987 until the fall of 1997, Msgr. Mullen was in residence at Santa Maria church in Orinda and did part time ministry as a presider and homilist ay Eucharist and as a confessor. When he fully retired, Msgr. Mullen resided in Concord, California, assisted by C.J. Tutt, a long-time friend and devoted care-giver amid Msgr. Mullen’s suffering with crippling arthritis. After a serious fall in February (2008) he was a patient at John Muir Medical Center and a resident of San Marco and Manor Care nursing homes before moving to his passing at Brun Home Hospice in Alamo. Monsignor Mullen considered his time at St. John Vianney as the happiest and most fulfilling time of his life. We at St. John Vianney are forever grateful for his devoted priesthood, his enthusiastic love of our community, his love of the Catholic tradition, the Church, and his great sense of humor, which sustained him not only in his priesthood but in his golf game as well! Jack Vohs, a founding SJV parishioner and good friend and frequent golf-mate with Msgr. Mullen for many years, tells this story about one of the days playing golf together: “Three of us used to take Monsignor up to Silverado Country Club to play golf four or five times a year. We always had a foursome but, one Friday, one of the guys was sick so we only had a threesome. The pro asked if he could fill out our group with a single who wanted to play. We, of course, said that would be fine with us. “The man who joined us was a Jewish gentleman named Schwartz who owned a fairly large manufacturing plant in San Francisco. We decided that Monsignor should ride on Mr. Schwartz’s cart and that he would drive. “Monsignor teed off first and hit his drive into the water in front of the tee. We told him to take a “mulligan” (hit another ball). Mr. Schwartz said, “In my circle we call that a Shapiro” and I said, “What’s that?” Mr. Schwartz replied, “Hit till happy”.   “On one particular hole, which was a long par five with a dogleg left and a large pond in front of the green, Msgr. Mullen pulled his to the left and was in trouble. He tried to hit his second shot back to the fairway but pulled it well left and up on a pretty high hill with lots of trees. On his third shot, he had to hit downhill and over the large pond and then stop it on the green. Monsignor took the clubs he thought he would need and told Mr. Schwartz to drive around the pond and over to the other side of the green, where his own ball was. Monsignor hit the shot high in the air and it came straight down in the middle of the pond and, miraculously, bounced three times on the water, rolled up the bank and onto the green. Mr. Schwartz shouted to Monsignor and said ‘Shall I bring the cart around, Monsignor, or are you just going to walk across?’” Rest in eternal peace, Monsignor – and “Thank you” for sharing your life, your humor, and your faith, with us!
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Updated 05/02/2008