John Mulkin

Mr. John Mulkin, age 86, of Carterville, IL, died Monday, September 17, 2012, at Herrin Hospital in Herrin, IL. Arrangements are being handled by Van Natta Funeral Home, 427 South Park, Herrin, IL Funeral service will be at Van Natta Funeral Home at 1:00 PM, Saturday, September 22, 2012. Attended schools in Herrin and Graduated from SIU with BA and MA. He was employed as Graduate Assistant in University Information Service and advanced to Acting Director until called to active duty with Air Force Reserve unit during Korean War and returned to SIU for a year to promote the change from SINU to SIU. Left the university to edit the Chester Herald Tribune and then the Metropolis News. He moved to Herrin to start the Herrin Spokesman, a weekly newspaper, in 1957. I sold the paper in 1968 and moved to Florida as bureau chief in Boca Raton for the Palm Beach Post Times. Family concerns prompted a return to Illinois where I became an employee for the Illinois Department of Mental Health. It was 1969 when I joined the Barbershop Harmony Society. I sang in various chapters and directed area choruses for 30 years in Little Egypt Chapter in Herrin and later Carbondale, Crossroads Chorus in Mt. Vernon and Shawnee Hills Chapter in Harrisburg. I also directed a Sweet Adeline Chorus of Ladies in Carbondale for a couple of years. I was active in the administration of the Barbershop Society. In four years I advanced through four offices that were each designed for 2-year terms. After two years as president of the Illinois district I was elected to two years as a member of the Society’s International Board of Directors. I continued to work for the organization, writing a manual for chapter Public Relations officers and I taught training schools for District officers in Several States. As an employee of the Department of Mental Health, I became active in the Illinois Welfare Assn., a state-wide organization. In 1982 I served a year as president. John wrote the above, Martha, his wife, is writing the rest of it: He retired from the state job in 1985. John was born Dec. 25, 1925, in Herrin, to Erastus Mulkin and Emily Woodford Mulkin. He married Dortha Choate of Chester in 1955. John married Martha Trull on July 26, 1985. They spent the following years attending barbershop activities, attending competitions and shows around the country. John was also active during this time with directing choruses and performing in several quartets. He was among the first in the area to organize mixed quartets, two men and two women, and he and Martha were in those quartets together. They also followed a life long interest in brilliant cut glass, attending conventions around the country. John was a featured columnist for The Hobstar, the magazine for the American Cut Glass Association, or ACGA. He also served for many years as the newsletter editor for several choruses, and spent five years doing the same service for the Carterville Public Library. He developed an interest in dog shows when they acquired a Shetland Sheepdog puppy and learned about Agility contests. He encouraged Martha's participation in training and showing, and John attended many of the shows with her. One further great interest in his life was his beloved Chicago Cubs. When he was five years old he would listed to the day game on the radio and then tell his dad what had happened. It was always “next year”. Survivors include his wife of 27 years, Martha, daughter Lisa Potter, son John Christopher Mulkin, granddaughters Amber and Emily Treece, Rachel and Hannah Trull, grandson Jon Michael Mulkin. He was preceded in death by his parents and a son, Shawn Arthur Mulkin.