Idaho businessman and former newspaper publisher Jack Mullowney passed away peacefully at his home in Twin Falls, Idaho, on Dec. 29, 2009, after a brief illness. He was 91.
Born in Minneapolis, Minn., on March 8, 1918, he was the only child of Mae Getchell and Joseph Damian Mullowney. In 1942 he married the love of his life, Elizabeth Winter Mullowney, who was known to friends as Betty, and called Nina by her children and grandchildren. Betty passed away on the island of Maui on April 15, 1996.
Jack attended Notre Dame University before graduating with a degree in business from the University of Minnesota in 1941, and through a U.S. Navy program received an MBA from Harvard. During World War II he served in the Supply Corps of the United States Navy, reaching the rank of lieutenant commander in 1945.
Immediately after the war, Jack returned to work at Green Giant Co. in Le Sueur, Minn., where he had worked since 1935 supporting himself and his family before the war. As an executive at the company during the 1950s, he eventually became national director of advertising, working in collaboration with advertising maverick Leo Burnett of Chicago on some of the most iconic advertising campaigns in Green Giant's history. During the heyday of the postwar economic boom, Jack oversaw the creative development and signed off on national television and print ads which gave the American consumer the ubiquitous Jolly Green Giant with his red scarf and "Ho, ho, ho."
In 1961 Jack purchased the Times News, the daily newspaper in Twin Falls, Idaho, and moved his family to Idaho where he ran the paper until the late 1960s. At the helm of the newspaper, and as champion of the growth of Twin Falls, his leadership in civic affairs helped spur the development of the downtown Main Street corridor as well as the fledgling College of Southern Idaho, which he championed from the beginning. A lifelong Republican, his leadership in Idaho politics was recognized by President John F. Kennedy when Jack was invited to the White House in 1962 with other Idaho publishers to discuss matters of national and regional importance.
An avid golfer, Jack was an active member of Blue Lakes Country Club in Twin Falls, where he served as president in 1968-69. He and Betty loved spending time in Sun Valley where they bought property in 1968. They also had many memorable times on the island of Maui where they spent every spring since the mid 1960s until Betty's passing in 1996.
In the 1970s Jack joined the commodities business of Sinclair and Co. of Twin Falls, where he became part owner and officer. He held seats on the Pacific Stock Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade, and throughout his career served on numerous national and regional boards of directors in the nonprofit and for-profit sectors. He continued his beloved work without retiring until three weeks before he passed away. Jack's life was honored last year by a remarkable interview on Dick Gordon's "The Story" on American Public Media Radio.
He is survived by his five children: Elizabeth Ann Mullowney of Sun Valley, John Getchell Mullowney of Ashland, Ore., Mary Catherine Stivers of Boise, Jane Frances McInnis of Hailey and Paul David Mullowney of Makawao, Hawaii.
He leaves a legacy of eight grandchildren: Burke Wilmore of Brooklyn, N.Y, Taylor Davidson Sanchez of Brooklyn, N.Y., Rosemary and Katherine Stivers of Boise, Adam Majors of Ketchum, Libby Majors of San Francisco, Calif., Flint McInnis of Long Beach, Calif., and Madeline McInnis of Hailey.
The family wishes to give special thanks to the caring and dedicated staff of Hospice Visions in Twin Falls, who cared for our father with love in his final days.
A private mass for family and friends will be held at a later date.
