Jim and Mary Lee McMullen

Jim and Mary Lee McMullen

Residents of San Jose

Jim McMullen and Mary Lee McMullen were both born in the 1920s in Queens, NYC, New York and Newark, New Jersey, respectively. Jim attended Manhattan College and the graduate school of the University of Texas (UT) in Austin where he received his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry. His education was largely financed by the GI Bill benefits he received after his enlistment in US Army during WWII. Mary Lee also attended UT were she studied design. She had lived in Austin for many years after she and her family traveled with her father who worked in civil engineering. Mary Lee spent most of her life in the Southern United States or in Central and South America. Jim grew up in New York City. They met in the early 1950s and were married for 49 years from 1953 until Jim passed away in 2002 from lung disorders. Mary Lee lived on until recently when she passed away after a fourteen year struggle with Alzheimer's. Jim was actively involved in the semiconductor industry for his entire career. He was an innovator, entrepreneur and one of the founders of several notable semiconductor companies. Jim and Mary Lee resided together in Sunnyvale and in the hills along the eastside of the Santa Clara Valley, where they lived with numerous children, horses, donkeys, chickens, dogs, cats, fish and bats.

They are survived by Jim's older brother William (Buddy) their 5 children, Jim. Jr., Bill, Tom, Robert and Libby as well as 5 grandchildren Chase, Chandler, Jay, William, and Kelsey. Jim was one of five children including his sisters Betty, Florence, and Peggy. Mary Lee was an only child.

There will be a memorial gathering on Tuesday, April 19, at 12:30 p.m. at the Spring Valley One (SV-1) picnic site at Ed Levin, Santa Clara County Park, 3100 Calaveras Road, Milpitas. In lieu of flowers the family suggests memorial donations to the Alzheimer's Association or Foundation at www.alz.org/join_the_cause_donate.asy or www.alzfdn.org.