Jack Leo Mulligan, 88, of Fernandina Beach, Florida, passed away quietly in his sleep at his home on May 31, 2024.

Jack was born on March 28, 1936, in Burwell, Garfield County, Nebraska, to Philip and Mary Fay Mulligan. He grew up on a farm in Burwell until 12 years old, then he and three of his brothers went to Boys Town outside Omaha, Nebraska. He graduated high school from Boys Town and won the Rink Foundation College Scholarship. He then graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a Mechanical Engineering degree in 1957. He later he obtained a Masters in Business Administration degree from the University of Chicago. Three years after graduating from Notre Dame he met and married Ruth Eloise Kenney in 1960.

Over time, the couple welcomed, and are survived by, sons Michael, Greg, and Chris. His sons remember him as a loving and fair father who always encouraged them in their pursuits. They have fond memories of sailing, camping, and other activities, as well as many attempted humorous “Jack jokes”, as a family. Later, Jack and Ruth sailed the Atlantic Coast and the Mediterranean Sea.

Jack enjoyed a successful professional engineering career which led his family and him to live in Kansas, Wisconsin, Illinois, Utah, Nebraska, and Michigan until he and Ruth retired in Fernandina Beach in 1993. Here Jack discovered his passion for acting. He acted in many plays for the Amelia Island Community Theater and the Fernandina Little Theater. Jack also loved and was skilled at woodworking as evident in the furnishings which decorate his sons’ homes. He volunteered for years at Fort Clinch. Jack attended mass regularly at St. Michael’s and then St. Francis of Assisi.

Jack is predeceased by his wife Ruth of 63 years and brother Don. He is survived by his brothers Virgil Mulligan, Larry Mulligan, Bob Hayes, and sister Carol Degan, as well as his sons and his four grandchildren Lori Mulligan, Matthew Mulligan, John Mulligan and David Mulligan. Son Chris has resided in Fernandina Beach for 20 years and been blessed help to Jack and Ruth in that time.

A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. on Monday, June 24, 2024, at the Oxley Heard Funeral Home. His remains will be laid to rest next to wife Ruth, and with her family, in Floral Haven Memorial Gardens in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.