In Memory . . . Rev. Thomas McMullen (1932-2008)
It is with a sense of loss that the Ministry and Professional Leadership Staff Group inform you of the death of the Reverend Thomas D. McMullen. He died on February 26, 2008 at the Big Bend Hospice House in Tallahassee, Florida. He was 76.
Reverend McMullen was born in Bradenton, FL. He was a graduate of the Florida State University School of Music, where he studied music theory and composition with John Boda, Carlisle Floyd, and the renowned Hungarian composer and pianist Ernst von Dohnanyi. He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1953-1957, first as an instructor of music theory at the U.S. Air Force School of Music, Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas, and later as conductor of the Strategic Air Command Chorus and musician in the Strategic Air Command Band, Offutt Air Force Base, Omaha, Nebraska. His professional life in the Bradenton/Sarasota area included work as band director, teacher of brass instruments, choral conductor, retail music store owner, and publisher of music and musicology manuscripts.
In midlife, he earned a Doctor of Ministry from Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago. During the 1970s and 1980s he served as minister of the Unitarian Church of Studio City, CA; North Shore Unitarian Church in Plandome, NY; and the First Unitarian Church of Orlando, FL. He was actively involved in the social and political issues of the day. Most recently he worked in the program planning and evaluation unit at the Florida Department of Elder Affairs in Tallahassee.
Family members include his wife, Barbara Stansell, with whom he shared a life rich in meaning; two sons, Tom McMullen (and partner Julia DeHoff) of Tallahassee and Nathan Blane McMullen (and wife Karen Brady McMullen) of Nantucket, MA; sister Jeanne McMullen Parrish and nephew Paul Parrish of Bradenton, FL; Helen McMullen Aderhold (and husband John Aderhold) and nephew Tom Aderhold of Atlanta, GA; grandchildren, Evan McMullen and Caitlin McMullen of Tallahassee, FL; and Brynny, loving dachshund.
Memorial contributions may be sent to the Florida State University College of Music, Heather Cairns, Director of Development, Tallahassee, FL 32306 or the Big Bend Hospice, 1723 Mahan Center Blvd, Tallahassee, FL 32308.
A memorial service was held on March 17, 2008 in the Jubilee Cottage at Goodwood Museum and Gardens in Tallahassee. Messages of remembrance may be sent to Barbara Stansell-McMullen, 1603 Seminole Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32301-5737.