Joseph Mulquin Macrum

1938 - 2023

MACRUM - Joseph of Los Angeles, CA died on Monday, July 17 at the age of 85 from prostate cancer and Parkinson's disease. Joe was a charming storyteller who loved to regale family and friends with tales from his wild and interesting life. As the son of U.S. Navy Commander Edward Joseph Mulquin and Jane Faulkner Mulquin, Joe's childhood was spent on Navy bases in the U.S. Hawaii and Guam. Following the death of his father in 1950, his mother married U.S. Air Force General Robert S. Macrum, and life took Joe around the world on Air Force bases.

A natural athlete, Joe played high school and college football and ice hockey; put himself through American University on a scholarship as an NCAA diver; and was a certified ski instructor who skied (and ice-skated) until he was 80 years old. He was fluent in Spanish and enjoyed having native speakers guess about the accent he'd picked up from living in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic and Honduras. Joe did the NYT crossword in pen every morning, and no one was allowed to help.

Following graduation from American University in 1965 with a B.A. degree in Government, Joe worked for the Special Operations Research Office at American University for two years. Next he held marketing positions for Texaco in Latin America and the U.S. until one day the SVP of public affairs for Texaco heard a radio interview Joe gave about the oil industry and recruited him for the corporate PR team in NYC. Subsequently, Joe became head of corporate communications in Houston for Texaco U.S.A., and then for Tenneco, Inc. In addition to his work in the energy sector, Joe held senior management communications positions with Hill and Knowlton, Trigon Healthcare, and Pillsbury, Madison and Sutro.

Joe is survived by his wife of 30 years Barbara Henderson, children Dr. Bruce Macrum and Emily Ratti, stepchildren Joel Henderson and Aubrey Siegel, and 7 much-loved grandchildren, as well as his brothers Douglas and Michael Macrum and former wife and friend Anne Lugar Johnson. Joe's son Robert Macrum died in 2005 while serving in the U.S. Navy.

The family will have a private celebration of life for Joe. For those who may wish to honor Joe, please consider a donation in his name to either the California Science Center or the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.