Gilford--Mary Halpin Mullen, 69, of Gilford, died Tuesday, November 18, at a hospital in New Smyrna Beach, Fl.
Mary was born on August 2, 1945, the daughter of Dr. Thomas F. and Arline Halpin of Reading, Massachusetts. She went to St. Agnes Catholic School in Reading, and in 1963 she graduated from Our Lady of Nazareth Academy in Wakefield, Mass. She went to Boston College and graduated with a bachelor’s in education in 1967. She married, became a mother, and settled in Burlington, Mass., and after a divorce she worked as a substitute teacher in Billerica, Mass. In 1975 she married William E. Mullen and raised her two sons with him.
In the early 1980s, with the technology industry booming in the Rt. 128 corridor, Mary studied Basic, Fortran, Pascal, and other computer languages at the University of Lowell (now the University of Massachusetts Lowell). After earning her Master’s degree in computer science she went to work for a time at the Mitre Corporation in Bedford, Mass.
In 1997, Mary and her husband Bill, who was retiring from work in Massachusetts, moved to Gilford, NH, where they had owned a second home and had made many great memories during the 1980s. In retirement, they joined the Laconia Country Club, became season pass holders at Gunstock, Loon, and Waterville Valley and enjoyed great friendships around these sports. Together they shared a love for travel, made several trips to central and eastern Europe, and regularly went on ski trips to Colorado.
Several years ago, Mary became a Eucharistic Minister at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Laconia. She and her husband were members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and gave financial guidance to families in need. For several years Mary worked in the St. Vincent de Paul office on Union Avenue in Laconia, helping people on the phone. With her husband, she helped to set up the John F. Mullen Memorial Scholarship in memory of her son who died in drowning accident in 2005. Since 2006 the scholarship has provided thousands of dollars in college aid to local students.
She was a kind and compassionate friend, an excellent listener, an incisive thinker and problem solver. She loved her walks on Scenic Drive in Gilford, and she liked to walk a loop by the base of Gunstock Mountain. She loved swimming and swam laps in a local pool three or four days a week.
In July 2013, Mary was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome, a blood cancer. At 68 she was beyond the normal age for bone marrow transplants, but her exceptional fitness won her a vote of confidence from her transplant doctor. She was in Florida in early November when she picked up an infection and went into septic shock. She was surrounded by loved ones when she died. Friends and family, who watched her make a brave choice for a transplant a year earlier, are likely to remember her strength, her positive attitude, her diligence and self-care, her will to live, and her concern for those she might leave behind. They will remember a beautiful person who truly honored life.
Mary is survived by her loving and devoted husband of 39 years, William E. Mullen, of Gilford; her son Kurt and daughter-in-law Amy, of Newburyport, Ma.; her sister Arline F. Gove of Falmouth-Foreside, Me.; her brother Dr. Thomas F. Halpin of West Boylston, Ma.; and her sister Martha Cunningham of Bridgewater, NH. She was predeceased by her oldest son, John.
Calling hours will be held on Friday, November 28, 2014 from 6:00-9:00PM in the Carriage House of the Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home, 164 Pleasant Street, Laconia, N.H.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Saturday, November 29, 2014 at 11:00AM at St. Andre Bessette Parish, St. Joseph Church, 30 Church Street, Laconia, N. H.
Spring Burial will be in the family lot in Pine Grove Cemetery, Gilford, N.H.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorial donations be made to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, PO Box 6123, Laconia, NH 03247.
Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 164 Pleasant Street, Laconia, N.H. is assisting the family with the arrangements. For more information and to view an online memorial go to www.wilkinsonbeane.com.