In Memoriam

Brian C. Mullins

On June 7, 2022, Polly Mullins, Brian's wife, wrote as follows:

I am writing to tell you of Brian’s passing on May 2, 2022. Brian and I were married 59 years. We spent our first year of marriage at Yale (after Brian was in the army reserve). He returned to Yale to finish his senior year. We had a “super duper” year at Yale and returned to Pittsburgh, where we spent the rest of our years together. We have three daughters and six grandchildren. We gathered with the family on Saturday, June 4th to celebrate Brian’s good long life.

Later, Polly added, in a note to Tony Lavely:

You are very kind to write to me and explain the various notifications. And I appreciate being invited to your class of 1964 reunion in 2024.  I did spend Brian’s senior year at Yale with him as his wife… what a fun year! Plus he had his best grades that year!

Sincerely, Polly Mullins

Here is Brian's obituary, followed by the essay he wrote for our 50th Reunion Class Book.

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Obituary

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

May 9, 2022

On Monday, May 2, 2022 Brian Christopher Mullins, loving husband and father of three daughters, passed away at the age of 81.

Brian was born on March 26, 1941 in Pittsburgh, PA to William and Virginia (Murphy) Mullins. He graduated from Yale University in 1964 and studied economic geography at the University of Pittsburgh. He worked as a CPA at Ernest & Ernest for twelve years. In 1976 he was appointed the CFO of Tuscarora Plastics Inc. and remained with the company until his retirement in 2002.

On August 31, 1963, he married Pauline (Polly) Edwards Foster, his childhood sweetheart. They raised three daughters, Mary (Amy) Mullins (David Farnsworth), Christina Mullins (Laura Doty) and Sarah Mullins (Alex Lipsen). Brian is survived by his wife Polly, his three children, their spouses, and six grandchildren.

Brian was an active volunteer and served on multiple boards providing his financial expertise to the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, Pressley Ridge Foundation, Calvary Episcopal Church Vestry, and BMW Motorcycle Owners of America. He was also on the board of Sweetwater Center for the Arts and served as the President of the Pittsburgh Golf Club.

His family noted his thoughtfulness, compassion, ability to fix anything and sense of humor.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Brian's name to Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy. The service will be private.

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Essay, Yale Class of 1964 50th Reunion Class Book

by Brian Mullins

May 2014

I largely wasted the first three of my college years and got only a small fraction of what Yale had to offer. That is probably my greatest regret. However, after marrying my wife Polly just before Senior Year, my appreciation for college life greatly improved and I finally gained some traction as a student.

After graduation, I floundered for a year or so, but the birth of our first child made it imperative to settle down to work and home life. I lucked in to a career, accounting and finance, which I truly enjoyed and found success, having only two jobs in 40 years, all the while trying to help raise a family. I became the CFO of a small startup company which grew steadily, went public and twelve years ago was sold to a large multinational corporation. I was able to retire from full-time work at that company ten years ago and have filled my time since with family, hobbies, travel (including long-distance solo motorcycle trips) and corporate as well as non-profit board positions. At least I do those things when I am not trying to help my wife be an astonishingly good grandmother.

Looking back, I am very grateful for so much that has been given to me; a great marriage and family, good health, a career that was challenging and fulfilling and a chance to help some others along the way. When I started life after graduation, I would never have expected to be so fortunate and I still don' t think I deserve it, but I'll take it and do the best I can with the years I have left.