Obituary of George P. Mullally

George P. Mullally, 76, of Iowa City, died Sunday, July 6, 2014, at Oaknoll Retirement Residence. Funeral mass will be held 10 a.m., Thursday, July 10th at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Iowa City, with a reception to follow in the church hall. Visitation will be Thursday from 9 -10 a.m., at the church. Burial will be at 11 a.m., Friday, July 11th, at the Sacred Heart Cemetery in Sauk Rapids, MN. There will be a time for visitation in Sauk Rapids from 9:30-11 a.m. Friday prior to burial at the Williams-Dingmann Family Funeral Home in Sauk Rapids. In lieu of flowers memorial donations can be made in George's memory to the American Heart Association. George P. Mullally was born May 15, 1938, in Sauk Rapids, MN, the son of Roy J. and Marie S. (Dingmann) Mullally. He graduated from St. Cloud Cathedral High School in 1956, received his BA Degree in Philosophy from St. John's University in 1960. After college he served with the Minnesota National Guard; SSGT Mullally was awarded the Medal of Commendation, Minnesota's Highest Civilian Award, for attempting to the save the life of a fellow soldier who was struck by lightning at Camp Riley. He returned to college at St. Cloud State College where he received his BS Degree in Instrumental Music Education. George then taught at Central Catholic High School in Marshall Minnesota for 2 years. Following this he accepted a research assignment with the University of Iowa allowing him to continue his education with Master's degrees in Classics and Library Science. George joined the staff of the University of Iowa Main Library in February 1971 with the positions of Rare Book Cataloger and Music Scores and Sound Recordings Cataloger. His most important contribution and responsibility in his position was the cataloging of the rare medical books donated by the late Dr. John Martin. George retired from the University in June of 2001 after 30 years of service. He was a member of the American Library Association and the Iowa Library Association. George had been associated with the Old Capital Barbershop Chorus during most of the 1970's, and had been invited to join the Eastern Iowa Brass Band in 1988. He played baritone with them for the following 19 years. George has also been a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Iowa City, and for many of those years he served as a cantor for masses. His family includes three children, Cindy Reed (Jeff) of Blue Grass, IA; Tom Mullally of Marietta, GA; and Brigid Mullally-Eccher, MD (Dan Eccher) of Augusta, ME; 6 grandchildren; four siblings, Robert Mullally (Mary Ann) of Onalaska, WI; John Mullally (Sharon) of Woodbury, MN; Mary Wocken (Jerry) of Huntsville, AL; and Ralph Mullally (Lois) of La Crescent, MN; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, and five siblings, James, Leo, Roy Mullally Jr., Ann Kresky and Ruth Mokosso.