John S. Mulholland
John Sylvester Mulholland, Jr. was born in Manhattan on October 25, 1923, the third and youngest child of John S. (“Jack’) and Anna Mulholland. His older sisters Dorothea and Jacqueline had recently moved with their parents from Manhattan to The Bronx, where his maternal grandfather had built a house for the family on De Reimer Avenue in the most northern part of the Borough.
John attended St Frances of Rome grade school, Mount St. Michael’s High School and Manhattan College. He was, by every account, an excellent student, rarely taking home less than an “A” in any subject. He was active in sports, and relished taking the subway to Yankee Stadium, where he saw many of the greats, including Babe Ruth, play. A general admission ticket, hot dog and soda, and round-trip subway tokens went for less than a dollar. He was a lifelong Yankees fan.
On December 7, 1941, during his Freshman year at Manhattan college, Japanese planes attacked the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, killing more than 2,300 Americans and ushering in World War II. The following morning, rather than attending classes, eighteen-year-old John Mulholland went downtown and enlisted in the United States Navy.
His Navy career first took him to flight school and later to service aboard LST30 where, among other adventures, took him to France on D-Day where the air, land, and sea forces of the allied armies brought about the largest amphibious invasion in military history. Five naval assault divisions, in Operation Overlord, arrived on the beaches of Normandy, France on June 7, 1944.
On June 19, 1945, while on leave back in New York City, John attended a ships service dance at the Waldorf-Astoria in Manhattan where he met Jane, who would become the love of his life. It was her 19th Birthday. The rest is history. After a tour of duty in the South Pacific, his Naval service was completed in January, 1946, their relationship continued, and he completed his degree at Manhattan College, graduating in the Spring of 1950.
Jane and John were married on September 3, 1949 at St. Helena’s Church in The Bronx, during his senior year at Manhattan. Upon graduation, after brief employment with the New York City Police Department that lasted less than a year, he was appointed a Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in May of 1951.
After completing Special Agents Training, his first assignment was Pittsburgh, followed by Baltimore, and then Hyattsville, Maryland, where he retired as Supervisory Special Agent in charge of the FBI Hyattsville Resident Agency in October 1978.
Over the years, Jane and John would have four sons – John William, Kevin James, Brian Michael, and William Denis. After retirement, he conducted private investigations, security consulting for the National Basketball Association, and related work, but at Jane’s gentle insistence, devoted much of his time to international travel and building a summer residence in Bethany Beach, Delaware.
Upon his death on April 5, 2012, his family, not particularly interested in the emotions of grieving and mourning, instead founded the John S. Mulholland Family Foundation, to celebrate his life and honor his memory by serving the food insecure, working poor of the District. Although John Mulholland never visited a food pantry, he did instill in his sons, among other things, that life was about service to others – that it is not about “me,” but “we” – that we are all called to live the Gospel through faith in action. Indeed, the motto of his Catholic grade school was “Facta non Verba,” actions not words. By serving those most in need, the name John S. Mulholland lives in perpetuity.