Dialog reporter
Father Owen J. Mullen, a priest of the Diocese of Wilmington who spent many years as a military chaplain, died Oct. 19 at his home in San Diego, Calif. He was 78 and had been a priest for 52 years.
A native of Troy, N.Y., Father Mullen served as an associate pastor, pastor, teacher and coach in the Diocese of Wilmington before becoming a chaplain at the University of San Diego in 1981. He was ordained in 1964 and served as an associate pastor at Corpus Christi, Elsmere; Holy Cross, Dover; and St. Peter the Apostle, New Castle.
In 1970 he became a teacher and coach at Archmere Academy in Claymont, and five years later he moved to St. Mark’s High School in Wilmington. He was named pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Chestertown, Md., in 1979.
He moved to San Diego in 1981, and in 1989 he entered the U.S. Army as a chaplain. Father Mullen had been a member of the Delaware National Guard and the Army Reserves before that. He served at West Point and on a base in Hawaii, having attained the rank of full colonel.
He retired from active duty in 2001 became pastor of Holy Family Parish in Honolulu, where he remained for three years. He returned to the University of San Diego, where his responsibilities included being chaplain to several athletic teams and adviser to the Phi Kappa Theta fraternity. He was elected the fraternity president in 2014.
Father Mullen’s funeral Mass will be celebrated Oct. 28 at Immaculata Catholic Church in San Diego. Bishop Robert H. Brom, bishop emeritus of San Diego, will be the principal celebrant.
