The Mulligan cousins
As today is the anniversary of D-Day, I went looking for a relative who served during World War II and came across Mom’s Mulligan cousins.
Let’s start with John Joseph Mulligan, Jr. He was born in 1920 in New Haven, Connecticut.
Here’s a photo from his high-school yearbook:
Sadly, his mom – Bertha Prindle Mulligan – passed away when he was only ten. She was 31.
Eighteen months later, John got a stepmom. Mom’s aunt Marcella Cassidy married John Sr. on June 24, 1931.
John Jr. signed up with the Selective Service on April 6, 1942. He served in the Army Air Corps Bombardier Squadron and Pathfinders Squadron.
Surely, John never dreamed he would meet his future wife overseas.
Her name was Lilian Shore. She was born in Poplar (any other Call the Midwife fans out there?) in London, England.
She was a bookkeeper.
This quote from Lilian’s obituary won my heart:
“… she lived there (London) throughout World War II.
She survived The Blitz there as a young woman,
even though she refused to go down to the bomb shelter
due to her fear of spiders.”
Lilian immigrated to the U.S. after the war; she and John married on December 19, 1946. They settled down in Cheshire, Connecticut, and had three children. Although John passed away in 1964, Lilian lived to be nearly 99.
Meanwhile, John’s younger brother, Robert, took a different path.
He was five years younger and was also called to service during World War II.
Robert joined the U.S. Army Air Corps, and served in the Asia sector, specifically in the Burma Campaign.
When he returned after the war, Robert Stephan Mulligan entered a different type of service, the Brothers of the Christian Schools.
He was now Brother Aloysius Francis Mulligan.
Brother Francis received the habit of the Brothers of the Christian Schools on September 7, 1946, at Barrytown, New York, and pronounced his final profession on August 28, 1955, at La Salle, Oakdale, New York. He earned a bachelor’s degree in 1953 and a master’s in 1959, both in French, from Manhattan College in the Bronx.
Brother Francis’ tour of duty follows:
- 1950-1951: LaSalle Academy, Providence, RI – Teacher: French
- 1951-1952: Sacred Heart School, Bronx, NY – Teacher
- 1952-1953: St. Bernard High School, New York City – Teacher: Religion, English, Algebra, General Science
- 1953-1956: La Salle Military Academy, Oakdale, NY – Teacher: Religion, English, Foreign Languages
- 1956-1957: De La Salle Academy, Newport, RI – Teacher: Religion, French, Typing
- 1957-1961: Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School, Brooklyn, NY – Teacher: Religion, French
- 1961-1962: Academie De La Salle, Trois-Rivieres, Canada – Teacher: English
- 1962-1963: La Salle Academy, Providence, RI – Teacher: Religion, English, French
- 1963-1965: Mater Christi High School, Astoria, NY – Teacher: Religion, English, French, Music
- 1965-1968: Bishop Bradley High School, Manchester, NH – Teacher: Religion, French, Health
- 1968-1977: Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School, Brooklyn, NY – Teacher: Religion, French, Alumni Work
- 1977-1979: Christian Brothers College High School, St. Louis, MO – Alumni work
- 1979-1981: Christian Brothers Center, Narragansett, RI – Staff
- 1981-1982: Monsignor Clarke School, Wakefield, RI – Teacher
- 1982-1985: De La Salle “Oaklands,” Toronto, Ontario, Canada – Alumni Work
- 1985-1986: Christian Brothers Center, Narragansett, RI – Staff
- 1986-1987: Bethlehem University, Bethlehem, Israel – Teacher
- 1987-1991: St. Gabriel’s Hall, Aububon, PA – Teacher
- 1991-1996: Christian Brothers School, New Orleans, LA – Teacher
- 1996-2000: Christian Brothers Center, Narragansett, RI – Retired
Brother Francis passed away the day before his 75th birthday.
I sure wish I had a photo of Marcella with her ready-made family (I’ll post one if I discover it in the future). For now, though, here she is with some of her siblings.
When you saw the name Mulligan you probably thought of stew. Or golf. But in general, a mulligan is a second chance in life after something went wrong the first time. When Marcella married into that no doubt still-grieving family, she was most certainly just the mulligan they needed.
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2 thoughts on “The Mulligan cousins”
Marcella Cassidy Mulligan was my grandmother. I am Kathy. Marcie, as her friends called her (to me she was Grandma) was the sweetest, kindest person ever. She didn’t have a mean bone in her body. I loved her dearly.
She and Grandpa lived on the ground floor of a two- family house. Her mother lived with them and her brothers and sister lived upstairs. After Grandpa died, they rented out the ground floor, and she moved upstairs with her brothers and sister. She kept house and they all worked.
One correction – my mother was not a nurse; she was a bookkeeper.
Thanks for the correction, Kathy. I’m so glad to learn a little bit more about my grandpa’s sister Marcie. ~ Paula