Lillian / Ryan Smith Mullen

Lillian Smith Mullen, known to friends as Ryan Smith Mullen, formerly of Highland Park, died on Tuesday, April 1, 2025 at their home in Philadelphia. They were 26 years old. They lived in Neptune, Highland Park and Olympia Washington before moving to Philadelphia last year.

In Philadelphia, Lily worked as a teacher’s aide and volunteered for Wooden Shoe Books and Records. In Olympia, she loved her archival work for the Evergreen library. She was a talented writer, graphic artist, web designer, and had a knack for attracting cool, interesting people into her orbit.

A nonconformist in every sense, Lily was determined to be a voice for the voiceless since her earliest days. She could never stand seeing anyone treated unfairly. In adulthood, this took the form of political activism asserting the rights of women, queer folk, immigrants, and low-income people.

Despite her many gifts, she was no match for the mental illness that took her life. If she were here, she’d remind us that this is the one class of illness that sufferers are expected to will away. She would also want us to acknowledge those among us similarly suffering, to tell them they are not alone.

Whether you know them as Lily or Ryan, you know their deeply compassionate, keen mind, their sharp wit, their ability to crack a joke that would have you laughing for days, their dedication to fighting for a better world, their love of poetry, philosophy and language, and a sensitivity that would overwhelm them at times.

Surviving are her parents, Edward O. Mullen and Jennifer Smith Mullen of Highland Park; her grandmother Carol Ann Skelenger of Kemah Lake NJ; her former wife Ellen Malmrose of Olympia WA; and her aunts Tricia Smith of Branchville, Allison Smith of Newton, Michelle Terpstra of Lake Hopatcong, Maureen Theese of Palm Bay FL, Mary Hazlett of Stroudsburg PA, Dan Mullen of Princeton, Kathleen Sparrowe of Bradenton FL, and many cousins.

A Memorial Gathering will be held on Sunday April 27th 12:00-3:00pm at The Crabiel Home for Funerals, 170 N Main St – at Riva Avenue, Milltown. A more raucous celebration of life is being planned for a TBD date. You may sign the online condolence “guestbook” for Lily/Ryan at www.crabiel.com.

Please call or text 988 or chat https://chat.988lifeline.org/ if you or someone you love needs crisis support.

The Trevor Project, provides crisis support to LBBTQ+ youth: (866) 488- 7386 or text “START” to 678-678

Trans people of all ages can find understanding crisis services at Trans Lifeline 1-877-565-8860 https://translifeline.org/hotline/

LGBT National hotline provides support to LGBT people of all ages: 888- 843-4564 LGBThotline.org 

In honor of Lillian Smith Mullen / Ryan Smith Mullen, please consider making a donation to the National Alliance on Mental Illness – NJ Chapter. https://naminj.org/