John Francis Mortell, Jr., known as Jack, died peacefully the evening of March 27, 2019, surrounded by family at his home. Born on October 28,1916 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin the third of seven children and a twin, he attended St. Peter’s Catholic School through high school, Oshkosh State Teachers College, Marquette University and the University of Iowa where he received his DDS degree in 1942. While we are quite sure he did well academically, growing up we heard much more about his escapades selling magazines across the country with his partner in crime, Jim Malone, and playing basketball for Iowa than we ever did about his academic pursuits. Enlisting in the Navy before graduation, Lt. John Mortell, appointed Dental Officer for the Twenty-Fifth Marines, Fourth Marine Division in May of 1944, served as a medic with them in the South Pacific, on the battlefields of Saipan, Tinian, and Iwo Jima. While Jack was standing over a critically injured soldier holding a bottle of amber colored plasma on the battlefield on Iwo someone suggested, “You’d better lash it on a rifle. It’s pretty hot here.”
“Never mind, I’ll hold it. Haven’t got a rifle,” the dentist replied. One of his jobs was to identify the fallen soldiers on the field and collect their personal belongings.
Jack loved to travel and it was on a trip to Mexico City that he met his future wife, Thelma Douglas, who was an American Airline Stewardess at the time. They were married in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City in September of 1949, before sailing to Europe on their honeymoon. For a brief time they lived in a small house on the shores of Lake Winnebago in Oshkosh, where Jack practiced dentistry with his father, until Bob Moyers, a close friend from dental school, convinced him to come to the University of Michigan to study pediatric dentistry. In 1953 they moved to Ann Arbor with their two young children. Jack did earn a Masters in Pedodontics and was the first pediatric dentist to practice in Ann Arbor and the only one for several years. Later he returned to the Dental School for a Masters in Orthodontics which he practiced until his retirement. Throughout his career Jack taught part time at the Dental School and was an Associate Professor in the Department of Orthodontics when he resigned in 1968 to focus on his practice, which spanned over 50 years.
Jack loved dentistry, but more than that he loved his patients, especially the children. He laughed at all their jokes and told more than a few himself. He loved his office staff and treated them like family, helping them through their struggles in life. For many years he made sure his office had a big picture window overlooking the Diag, so he could watch the students come and go, the riots during the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Marches, and the Hash Bash. He was excited that the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) had their office across the hall from his, and he was proud to tell us that Jane Fonda came over to borrow some towels for her baby when she visited Tom Hayden. Jack was totally engaged in the world around him, devoured The New York Times every day while eating lunch at the Betsy Ross in the Nickels Arcade, and participated in the great debates of his time.
He valued education and made sure his four children were able to go to college and graduate school wherever they chose. He would encourage us by saying that we could do anything we wanted, and urged us to study art history and the Great Books in addition to whatever else we were pursuing. He also valued sports, playing all the way through school, signing his kids up for Physical Fitness at the University of Michigan every summer, inspiring us to participate in every sport, cheering us on, and swimming and jogging himself well into his 90s.
He was a devout Catholic and a member of St. Francis Church, where he served on the parish council with his buddy Jack Kinney, Holy Trinity Chapel, and St. Mary’s Student Parish. He was also active in several organizations in Ann Arbor over the years, his favorite likely the Cerebral Palsy Association of Washtenaw County.
He loved Bethany Beach where he could be found giving a special needs child a ride in his son Mike’s electric wheelchair on the boardwalk. He loved the cottage on Lake Winnebago, and Michigan football. What really mattered to Jack, however, were the people around him. Above all else, he loved his family. He delighted in playing at the park with his three granddaughters, watching their soccer, baseball, and field hockey games, and taking them to Walgreens so often that they were on a first name basis with the checkout lady. They brought him tremendous joy. He never stopped worrying about all of us. Jack was a warm, kind, and humble man with a wonderful sense of humor and joyful spirit, who spent his life taking care of others. We will miss him greatly. Until we meet again, Dad, we love you. Go Blue!
He was preceded in death by his wife Doug, daughter Jane, sisters Mary Wyckoff, Elizabeth Buker, Katharine Mortell, and Patricia Ryan, and brothers Edward Mortell and William Mortell. He is survived by three children, Michael Patrick Mortell, John Francis Mortell III, and Mary Patricia Mortell; three grandchildren, Janie, Jackie and Katherine, all of Ann Arbor; many nieces and nephews, and lots of good friends. Our heartfelt thanks to all of his patients and office staff over the years for so enriching his life. A very special thank you to Worthy Gray and Barb McWhirter, as well as St. Joseph Mercy Home Care and Hospice, for their loving care over the past several months. Visitation will be held on Friday, April 5, from 5-7 p.m. at Muehlig Funeral Chapel, 403 South Fourth Avenue, Ann Arbor, 734-663-3375. A Catholic Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, April 6, at 10:30 a.m. at St. Mary’s Student Parish, 331 Thompson Street, Ann Arbor, 734-663-0557.
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