William Edward McMahon

William Edward “Bill” McMahon, researcher, author, Professor Emeritus and former head of the Philosophy Department at the University of Akron and beloved family man, died peacefully and surrounded by family on Thursday, February 5 at the Justin T. Rogers Hospice Center in Copley, Ohio. He was 88.

A great mind, legendary wit, and kind soul, Bill McMahon pursued a myriad of intellectual hobbies. When he discovered a new interest, he first read everything about it then, eventually, wrote about it. He wrote op-eds, journal articles, monographs and books about subjects (including but not limited to) epistemology, symbolic logic, linguistics, battleships, UFOs, politics, medical and criminal justice ethics, faith healers, the Negro Leagues, and the Chicago Cubs. He and his researchers are at work on a book celebrating the National Girl’s Baseball League (not the All-American Girls League, as he would carefully explain). He was appreciated by generations of students who at first did not know why they had to take philosophy but were ultimately glad they did.

As a Latin scholar, Bill transcribed manuscripts from the thirteenth-century logician Radulfus Brito, delighting in his clever phrasing and the scribe’s comments in the margins. He brought this blend of curiosity, reverence, and humor to his Catholic Faith. His favorite philosopher was St. Thomas Aquinas. He loved both the Latin Mass and Catholic Social Teaching. He liked people innately and without judgement. A terrific conversationalist, Bill would find a common interest with someone, then maintain a dialogue (or monologue) about it, sometimes over the course of a decade, easily picking up where he left off.

William Edward McMahon was born in Chicago, Illinois on September 25, 1937, the younger of two children born to Daniel Patrick McMahon, a foreman in the Chicago Water Department, and Mary Lois (Hurley) McMahon, a secretary. The family lived within a mile of the U.S. Steel plant, and a block from Lake Michigan. After the dissolution of the marriage, Billy and his sister Rosemary Dorney Fast (Madison, WI) shared a room in a basement apartment for the next 16 years.

For a time, Billy lived with his Aunt Laurie (McMahon Brin) and Uncle Harry Brin, who took the southside kid to see ballgames at Wrigley Field. This ritual started in 1946, the year after the Cubs won their last pennant for 70 years. These ballgames sparked a fierce devotion to the Cubs that was not in any way requited. Bill’s love of baseball blossomed over the years. His younger brothers Daniel Clayton McMahon (Napa, CA) and Neil Scott McMahon (Missoula, MT) say that every week, Billy would visit for family dinner. But first, he would organize pickup baseball games for the local kids from blocks around. Billy kept things fair and fun, and the local kids adored him. They called him the Pied Piper.

Bill attended South Shore High School, where he distinguished himself, graduating in 1955. While he never flaunted his academic achievements, Bill was fond of pointing out that he played high school football and baseball, albeit without distinction. His nickname was “Swish,” and a picture in the 1954 yearbook shows why. Bill’s grades earned him a Pullman Scholarship and a free ride to the University of Notre Dame. After a summer of working on a crew with his father, a much stronger Bill McMahon attempted to walk on to the ND baseball team. When he hit a home run in practice, he was so surprised that he watched it. After a good scolding, he was summarily cut from the team.

Bill’s time at Notre Dame was seminal. Originally interested in the law, Bill was mesmerized by legendary theology, history and philosophy professors. His career aspiration became his life's work. He graduated with honors in 1959. He pursued graduate work at Brown but was told that Catholics cannot be philosophers. He then returned to Notre Dame and received his PhD in 1970.

Bill's first full-time teaching job was at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, PA. He moved from there to John Carroll University in Cleveland and then earned a tenured position at the University of Akron. He retired from Akron U. in 2000, after 30+ years of teaching.

While at St. Vincent in 1962, Bill met Mary Louise (Weezie) Owens at a poet's reading. He then asked her to a Van Cliburn Concert. Her parents loved him. During a Notre Dame football game, Bill asked Weezie's father Albert Owens, "What would you say if I married your daughter?" They were married within seven months. "We loved each other. Why wait?” explained Weezie.

Married for 63 years (of “unmitigated bliss” they often joked), Weezie softened or withstood Bill’s many idiosyncrasies and typed his papers. Their marriage was equal parts with caring insights, and commitment to social justice. Their rapid-fire banter astonished and amused generations of friends, neighbors, and friends of the kids. Bill and Weezie held season tickets to the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra and loved big band and folk music, jigsaw puzzles, books, baseball, and football. Though a fierce defender of reason and evidence, Bill considered his role in Notre Dame victories to be definitive. He is rumored to have been undefeated in Trivial Pursuit. Every space he occupied was soon consumed by piles of handwritten papers, arranged in a taxonomy that was known only to him, which is now lost to the ages.

Friends and family gathered often in their Akron home, and, later, their home on the Jersey Shore, where laughter, steak with sauteed mushrooms, and fast-paced, witty conversation were the rule. A gentle father, Bill consoled the kids through thunderstorms and coached Little-League baseball teams. He attempted to teach Beth and Coley Latin, but It didn’t take. He read them the Wizard of Oz books and Tintin stories (in French and German, which he translated on the fly). One form of his love was sharing his late-night popcorn, watching old movies (of dubious cinematic value) with the family while he graded exams. Neither child ever succeeded in sneaking into the house undetected or after his bedtime, but Bill never informed Weezie of curfew violations. Bill was a legendary teller of jokes, years before fathers were supposed to be funny and Dad Jokes were a thing.

Over his lifetime, Bill was an enthusiastic member of many organizations. He regularly attended meetings of the American Philosophical Association and the Ohio Philosophical Society, the International Conference of the History Language Sciences, the Medieval Congress at Western Michigan (Kalamazoo), the Society for American Baseball Research, and the Summit County Progressive Democrats.

Bill is survived by devoted family members: his wife Mary Louise and two children, Elizabeth McMahon (husband Joshua Feldman) of Newark, NJ, and Coleman (wife Amanda Sodoma McMahon) of Catonsville, MD. Cole and Amanda's three children, Nathan Daniel, William David (Liam) and Claire Emilie, were a source of great joy to their Pop Pop.

A visiting hour will take place at St. Hilary’s Catholic Church in Fairlawn at 12:00pm Saturday, February 14, 2026, with a Funeral Mass at 1:00pm. Visitors are encouraged to wear bright colors, as we will celebrate the great joy that Bill brought to the world.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Bill’s name to Catholic Worker Akron, https://www.catholicworkerakron.org/donate, where he loved to volunteer, or the American Civil Liberties Union, https://www.aclu.org/, in keeping with his devotion to civil society and the rights of the individual.

An Irish wake will be held for Bill at his home at Brookdale Montrose, 100 Brookmont Road, in Montrose, OH. It will run from 2:30-6:00pm, and very likely into the future.

Services in care of the Billow Funeral Homes and Crematory, 85 N. Miller Road Akron, OH 44333 (Billow FAIRLAWN Chapel)