Joan Mulally Mcnamara

Joan Mulally McNamara passed away peacefully in her sleep on October 11, 2022 at Laurel Circle in Bridgewater, NJ. She was 97.

She is survived by two sons, Tom, and his wife Marcia Bullard of Washington DC; Kevin and his wife Megan of Bridgewater; a grandchild Emily and her husband David Ingber; a great-grandchild, Lucy of Montclair, and many nieces and nephews.

Jim McNamara, her husband of 66 years, died in 2013.

Joan Isobel Mulally was born and raised in St. Paul, MN. She was proud of her Minnesota heritage and her family’s contributions to St. Paul. Her father, a lawyer, and mother lived on Summit Avenue and had 5 children. Her mother died when Joan was 13, and she always felt her loss. Her sister Judith Mulally Lilien and her three brothers, Edward, Judd and Charles Mulally predeceased her.

Joan fondly recalled the time she spent at the family’s summer home on Bald Eagle Lake where she would swim for hours. While at Central High School in St. Paul, she met five girlfriends who dubbed themselves the “In Group”; they met many times over the decades for reunions and remained close friends. Only one of the In Group survives her.

She went on to the University of Minnesota where she earned a bachelor’s degree in social work, which was uncommon for young women of that era. She met and married her husband Jim in St. Paul, and then moved to Arlington Heights, IL due to his work with the Burlington Northern Railroad. They later moved to Westfield, NJ, before retiring to Calabash, NC, where they built a new home. She moved to Laurel Circle in 2019.

Joan was a good athlete who played golf and tennis well into her 80s. Over the years, she knitted many afghans for friends and family; she was also an accomplished seamstress. Early in her marriage, she wanted to buy a sewing machine but didn’t have enough money. So she went to work clerking at an insurance agency and continued that career for years. Her sewing machine produced many clothes for herself and gifts for others. She was a longtime volunteer for Meals on Wheels and the Head Start program.

Right to the end, Joan was a voracious reader and a consumer of news and current affairs. She easily read 2 books a week. ESPN and CNN were her favorite channels. Every night at cocktail hour, she made herself a Manhattan and watched the evening news.

As a Mulally who married a McNamara, she was proud of her Irish heritage. One of her fondest memories was a family trip to Ireland to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 20 at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Somerville, NJ. She will be interred at Resurrection Cemetery in Mendota Heights, MN.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to one of Joan’s favorite charities, Habitat for Humanity Donate Online by Clicking Here