John J. Mullaney

Centerville – Mr. John J. Mullaney, Jr., of Centerville, died Friday, August 24, 2018 in his home. He was 92.

John was born in Waltham on May 30, 1926, a son of the late John J. and Irene (Arsenault) Mullaney, and had been a lifelong resident before moving to the Cape in 1998.

He was a 1944 graduate of Waltham High School and then joined the United States Navy serving as an aviation radioman/gunner aboard a Grumman TBF Avenger, a torpedo bomber introduced into service just prior to the Battle of Midway. He was discharged in June, 1946.

After the war he went back to school and became a registered pharmacist in 1948. John began working for Beatty Bros. Drug Store in Waltham at the age of 15, starting as a stock clerk and eventually becoming a buyer and assistant to the manager. In August of 1958, he purchased the Thomas M.R. Allen Drug Store on Main Street in Waltham and changed the name to Mullaney's Pharmacy.

He was the husband of the late Hilda C. (Besso) Mullaney, father of the late Thomas Mullaney, and brother of the late Dorothy Pratt.

John is survived by his children, Suzanne Saulnier, John J. Mullaney, III, both of Waltham, Kathleen Pierce Mullaney of Mashpee, Deborah LeBlanc of Canada, Barbara Mullaney of Newton, Margaret Spencer of North Reading, Sharon Gulla of Moultonborough New Hampshire, Timothy Mullaney of Maynard, Kevin Mullaney of Needham, Patrick Mullaney and Christopher Mullaney both of Waltham; his sister, Patricia Bolton of Wilmington; 24 grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

Family and friends will honor and remember John's life by gathering for calling hours in the Joyce Funeral Home, 245 Main Street (Rte. 20), Waltham on Friday, September 7th, from 4 to 8 p.m. and again on Saturday morning when his funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Burial will follow in Mount Feake Cemetery, Waltham.

Memorial donations may be made to VNA Hospice of Cape Cod, 434 Route 134, Suite D-3, South Dennis, MA 02660.