Joseph E. Mullaney Jr.

1933 - 2021

MULLANEY, Joseph E. Jr. Former Vice Chairman of the Gillette Company Age 87, passed away peacefully, surrounded by family, at his home in Vero Beach, Florida on Friday, January 22, 2021. He was born on March 22, 1933, to Joseph and Beatrice Hancock Mullaney, during the height of the Great Depression. He grew up with four siblings and two parents in a 3-bedroom house with one bathroom. Joe worked his way up from humble beginnings in Fall River, a small mill town to the top of one of the world's largest corporations. Joe was a three-sport star athlete and class President and Valedictorian at Durfee High School. He went on to graduate with high honors from The College of the Holy Cross in 1955. His mother, Beatrice Hancock Mullaney graduated from B.U. Law school in 1928. She was the first woman probate judge in Massachusetts and she inspired Joe to become a lawyer. He graduated from Harvard Law School with high honors in 1958. To pay for college, Joe joined ROTC and served in the Air Force. In 1960, Joe joined a law firm called Jones Day, Reavis & Pogue in Cleveland, Ohio and quickly became a partner. In 1970, he joined the federal government, serving first as General Counsel to the Special Trade Representative and as General Counsel to the Cost-of-Living Council. Both offices are part of the Executive Office of the President. Joe moved to Boston in 1972 and joined Gillette as Associate General Counsel. He was appointed General Counsel in 1973, elected a Corporate Vice President in 1975, elected Senior Vice President, Legal in 1977 and a Director and Vice Chairman in 1990. Joe was a member of the Boston, Massachusetts, and American Bar Associations and served on the ABA Commission on Homelessness and Poverty. He was a member of the Council of the Business Law Section, Chairman of the Corporate Law Departments Committee and Chairman on the Task Force on Corporate Law Department Public Service Programs. Joe served as a director of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, director and former chairman of the Board of the New England Legal Foundation, director of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, the Park Street Corporation, the Greater Boston Legal Services Corporation, the World Affairs Council and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Boston Public Library. In 1995, Joe received the Public Service Award from The Boston Bar Association for his "lifetime of public service." In 1998, Joe received a National Exemplar Award from the National Legal Aid & Defender Association for demonstrating "outstanding leadership in promoting and supporting equal justice." Joe was a Founding Donor of Smile Train, the world's largest cleft charity and he traveled as a volunteer to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Indonesia, China and India. After he began spending winters in Florida, Joe worked for five years at a state-run program called Guardian Ad Litem, where he was an advocate for children who'd been removed from their homes. He also volunteered for four years at a soup kitchen called The Lord's Table. In 1957, Joe married the love of his life, Rosemary Woodman, from Randolph, MA. The family they built, and the 47-year marriage they cherished, were more important than all of Joe's educational and business accomplishments put together. Joe and Rosemary worked hard and sacrificed a lot to give their children a childhood and education they never had. In 1971, their only daughter, Maura, fell ill with a rare disorder called Stevens-Johnson syndrome. For the next two years, Joe and Rosemary did everything they could to save her, but she died in 1973, at the age of 10, leaving a void in the family that was never filled and a wound that never healed. In 1972, Joe joined The Gillette Company and as he quickly rose through the ranks, Joe became a consummate "company man." He would sing the Gillette jingle, "Look Sharp, Feel Sharp, Be Sharp" every morning while he shaved which really annoyed Rosemary. Joe's 25 -year Gillette career culminated in 1990 when he was appointed as Vice Chairman of Gillette and a member of the Board of Directors. When corporate raiders attempted several hostile takeovers of Gillette in the '80s, Joe led the legal team that successfully defended it and he helped bring Warren Buffett on board to save the company. Joe and Rosemary were fortunate to have the opportunity to travel all over the world ultimately visiting 100+ countries and making friends everywhere they went. But no matter how many distant lands they explored, Joe's favorite place was always Westport Harbor in Massachusetts. His definition of happiness was sitting on his back terrace overlooking his beloved Westport River under a full moon, after a big family dinner, strumming his ukulele and singing his favorite song, John Denver's Take Me Home Country Roads. Joe had a razor-sharp Irish wit and loved to tell jokes that would make you laugh and Irish toasts that could make you cry. Sometimes at the same time. He was proud of his Irish ancestry. Joe had a big smile that could light up a room and a selfless, generous nature. During his lifetime, Joe happily gave away millions while he drove a 14-year-old car and lived in the same house in Westport for the past 45 years. Rosemary passed away, unexpectedly, in 2004. Eight years later, after a family friend lost her husband, Joe developed a special relationship with a wonderful woman named Andrea Powning. She brought much joy and happiness to Joe and helped him, and his family, make the most out of his remaining 16 years. Over the past three years, Joe co-wrote with Maria Canfield, an autobiography entitled: A Man from Fall River. In the introduction, Joe explains why he wrote the book: "I have been thinking a lot about things lately, such as: Have I lived a good life? Have I done the best I could with the time and talent I was given? Have I helped anybody? What kind of husband was I? What kind of father? Have I made contributions to my friends, to my neighbors, to my community?" In his book, in his own modest voice, Joe answers all of these questions as he tells his story with all of its ups and downs. The last line of his book sums it up: "All things considered, I think I've been a very lucky guy." Joe is survived by four sons, Joseph E. Mullaney III, Esq., Brian F. Mullaney and his wife Cricket, Sean W. Mullaney and his wife Stacy, and Evan H. Mullaney; and eight very smart, talented grandchildren, Katherine, Joseph E. Mullaney IV, Madeleine, Maura, Charlie, Quinn, Elizabeth and Jack. A Service will be held in Westport Harbor, MA when conditions allow. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Joe's name to the Westport River Watershed Alliance. No one knows if there is music in heaven. But if there is, we know what was playing on January 22, 2021. Almost heaven, West Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River Life is old there, older than the trees Younger than the mountains, growin' like a breeze Country roads, take me home To the place I belong West Virginia, mountain momma Take me home, country roads Take me home, country roads

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