Aloysius James MULLALLY

Aloysius James (AJ) MULLALLY Of Seattle, a descendant of Irish immigrants, died after a brief illness at the age of 89 on St. Patrick's Day, March 17th. He was preceded in death by his parents, William and Daisy; brother, Patrick; sisters, Esther Reis, and Elizabeth Schumacker; his wife and mother of their twelve children, Geraldine Burns Mullally; sons, Aloysius Jr. and Mark; and daughter, Therese (Brian) Losh. As throughout his life, AJ was surrounded by family at the time of his death. AJ was born on May 10th, 1922, to William and Daisy Mullally in Aberdeen, South Dakota. He moved to Seattle in 1943 in search of work in one of the many WWII manufacturing facilities. In 1943 AJ met his wife of forty-five years, Geraldine (Jerry) Burns, at a rooming house in Seattle run by Geraldine's sister. Both AJ and Jerry found they had much in common not least of which was they both left the Dakotas in search of work on the coast and they were both of the Catholic faith. After WWII, AJ and Jerry started a home building company and built many hundreds of homes between the years of 1946 and 1960. In the late 1950's he switched from home to apartment building and became one of the largest private apartment developers in Seattle. AJ was a past president of the Seattle Master Builders (now Master Builders of Washington). Although AJ retired years ago, his company continues under the management of several of his children. AJ had two constants in life; love of family and love of the Catholic faith. He studied to be a priest for a brief time at the Jesuit Seminary at Los Gatos, California in 1941 but, fortunately for his children, found his true vocation in his marriage to Geraldine Burns in 1944. Throughout his life he remained devoted to both his family and his faith. AJ worked continually to help his children be successful and was active in advancing Catholic educational institutions and Catholic teachings. In 1990 he met and married the second love of his life, Joanna (Jody) Sheppard, and they remained happily married until his death. AJ loved life. Nothing made him happier than his annual birthday party that he somehow convinced his children to hold in his honor. He relished the company, good food, and the several birthday cakes ordered to his liking. His birthday party was always a well attended event but his children were never quite sure how many people would show up as AJ had the habit of inviting just about everyone he ran into during the weeks preceding it. AJ is survived by his wife, Joanna; nine of his twelve children, Vincent (Cathie), Paul (Bente), Margaret (Mark) Graves, Colleen (Charles) Mills, Joseph (Marian), Maureen (Shyam) Sharma, Mary Louise, John (Kanjamat), and William; twenty-nine grandchildren and, of last count, fourteen great-grandchildren; his siblings, William (Maria), Frank, Mary Wiest, Jeanne Joyce, Michael (Phyllis) and Annrita (Jerry) MacLaren; and his wife, Joanna's, children, Camille (Gary) Dohrn, Celia (Daniel) Evans, Robert (Karen) Sheppard and Crispin (Sean) Fievet. AJ will be greatly missed by his family, friends, fellow Catholics, his friends of 40 years at the Wedgwood Fellowship, his Madison Park neighbors of 52 years, and all those whose lives he touched. The family wishes to thank the nursing staff at Swedish Medical Center (Broadway) and at the Park Shore Retirement Community for the excellent care they provided to AJ during his final weeks. Funeral Mass will be celebrated today, Thursday, at 1:30 PM at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, 5050 - 8th Avenue NE, Seattle, WA. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to "Sacred Story" c/o Fr. Bill Watson, S.J., at Seattle University, 901 12th Ave. Seattle, WA 98122. Sign AJ's on-line Guest Book at www.Legacy.com. Hoffner Fisher & Harvey