Joann Mary Mullen

On the morning of January 16, 2019 Joann Mary Mullen (nee Lundberg) passed into the loving arms of her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. There to welcome her into heaven were her mom and dad Margaret and Joseph Lundberg, her first grandchild Derek Roger, and many other family members and friends.

Born and raised in Seattle, she lived life to the fullest, always choosing to see people as God’s creations and always keen to invest herself in making their lives richer.

Joann grew up on the shores of Lake Washington and graduated from Franklin High School and the University of Washington before starting her first career as an elementary school teacher.

She met the love of her life, Donald Earle Mullen, and on the first day of Spring in 1956 they married. Thus began her second and life-long career as a devoted wife, mother, and grandmother. Her children, Susan Kaiser, Kelly (“John”) (Dori), and Craig (Jodi), along with her grandchildren Lindsay (Jeff), Michael, Matthew, Jordan, Joseph (Hannah), and Justin (Brittany), will remember her as a loving, gentle soul with an awesome sense of humor that stayed with her throughout her life. Her first great grandson, Wesley Derek Vander Pol, was born three months ago. Although he won’t remember meeting her, he will grow up knowing her through the memories her family will share of family vacations to the Oregon Coast, her playful spirit, and the unconditional love she showered on her family. He will know what a beautiful person she was both inside and out.

At 34, as a young wife and mother of 3 small children, Joann’s faith was tested when an accident left her with a traumatic brain injury that the specialists all believed would prove fatal. The injury destroyed her senses of smell or taste and damaged her memory and other brain functions. They called it miraculous when nearly a year after the accident she returned home. More miraculous still may have been the way she continued pouring the love and character of Jesus Christ into her family members and just about everyone else she met.

Joann was exceptionally intelligent and competitive in anything she had an interest in, to include bowling, Scrabble, Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, and debating current events with all comers. She had a special gift for seeing inside the hearts of others, empathizing with them in their own suffering, and doing everything in her power to help.

The world has lost an incredible soul, one we are all intensely proud of and extremely reluctant to lose – if only until we see her again. At this time, as the family grieves her loss, we all take comfort in knowing heaven just became a little bit brighter and a little more fun.

A Celebration of life will be held 2:00 PM Saturday, February 9th at Westminster Chapel, 13646 NE 24th Street, Bellevue, WA 98005. All are welcome to attend.

“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he dies, yet shall he live, and everyone who believes in me shall never die”. John 11:25