Death of Dr. Lounell Mullis
Alumni of Truett-McConnell College from the years 1948 through 1956 are mourning the death of Dr. Lillian Lounell Mullis, greatly beloved religion
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| Lounell Mullis as she looked when she came to TMC in 1948 |
faculty member and Dean of Women during those years. Dr. Mullis passed away on February 10, 2009, in her sleep at home.
A native of west central North Carolina near Statesville, Dr. Mullis came to the Truett-McConnell College faculty in the school’s second year of operation. She was a trusted friend to all who knew her, and her work and influence in molding Truett-McConnell cannot be overestimated.
Dr. Mullis retired many years ago from higher education, having last served on the faculty of Catawba College, a private Christian college of approximately 1,000 students affiliated with the United Church of Christ and located in Salisbury, NC.
A few years ago she moved into a Methodist retirement complex, Givens Estates, in Asheville, NC, and lived out the remainder of her life there. Her funeral service was held on February 13 in the Norma Pulliam Chapel at Givens Estates. She was a member of First Baptist Church of Asheville.
Dr. Mullis is survived by a sister, Helen Frost, of Mars Hill, NC; two nephews, and two nieces.
Just a year ago, in February 2008, Dr. Mike Simoneaux, current Vice President for Academic Services at TMC, and his wife, Bonnie, visited Dr. Mullis in her apartment at Givens Estates. He reported that she was energetic and enthusiastic and that she walked with them all around the retirement complex at a steady pace. This being his first meeting with her, he was very much impressed by her youthful vigor and keen mind.
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| Dr. Mike Simoneaux with Dr. Mullis at her home in February 2008. |
TMC Alumni Director Edna Holcomb made this statement: “With the death of Lounell Mullis, Truett-McConnell College is diminished. She was—and will always remain—an integral part of the foundation of this college. Truett-McConnell today rests on the shoulders of people like Lounell Mullis, who shaped it and supported it in its early years. The legacy that she left at this college is one of the school’s greatest treasures.”
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