John Charles Mullin

John Charles Mullin was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on November 3, 1948. The youngest of five children, he joked that he always had to eat fast to get any dinner. Before college he worked a dangerous job on a railcar to help pay his expenses, and then safely situated at The University of Iowa, he secured a job in the library where he could read books and meet girls.

Following his college years he lived in Egypt teaching art, taught and made wine in the bathtub in Saudi Arabia, lived in Oregon where he developed a life-long contempt for lentils, and spent some time in Panama working for the US government where he was definitely not a spy.

His wandering years came to an end when he took a job as the lead librarian at Collin College in Plano, Texas and met the love of his life, Mary Anne Andrade, an English professor at the same college. They never quite agreed on how they met, but their daughter’s favorite story is that he saw her on a ladder in the library reaching for a book and fell in love. There’s was a marriage built on a shared passion for reading, art, music, and travel, and every day in Dallas found them in their living room, jazz on the stereo, a fire in the grate even when the weather didn’t warrant it, and a glass of wine in hand to discuss everything about the day and to laugh and plan their next adventure.

John was an excellent cook, knew the words to every Beatles song, and was one of the most brilliant human beings to ever live. He was also a dedicated husband, a loving father, and the proud grandfather of four grandchildren.

He died peacefully on March 11, 2026, after suffering a stroke in September 2025.

He is survived by his wife, Mary Anne Andrade, his daughter, Isabel Andrade Crosby, his stepson, Alexander Andrade (Alex), his four grandchildren, Claire Crosby and Eloise, Atticus and Beatrice Andrade, and his three older siblings, Kathleen, Tom, and James.