William Mulvay “Gramps”

William Arnold Mulvay, died of natural causes on May 22, 2014, at the close of an inventive life filled with good humor, integrity and love. Bill, the son of Arnold Bell and Cloa Watford Mulvay, was born on May 31, 1925, in their home at 1321 South 1100 East in Salt Lake City. He fondly remembered swimming naked in backyard washtubs, fighting friends with rubber elastic guns, riding the streetcar into Sugar House, ice skating at Liberty Park, and making a “radio,” a crystal set that he took to bed with him so he could listen under the covers. He and his older sister Ruth attended Emerson Elementary, where Bill “blew the whistle in the hall for the change of classes.” When the Depression hit and his father’s work at Mountain Bell was reduced from five to two days a week, Bill went fishing with his dad to help feed the family. Bill maintained the family yard and garden and found other ways to earn his spending money. During his Roosevelt Jr. High School years, he had a paper route. He gave up basketball at East High School after he got two part-time jobs: delivery boy at Wendell’s Market and janitor at Mountain Bell. One weekend, while camping at Tanner’s Flats in Little Cottonwood Canyon, Bill and his four buddies encountered a car with four girls, one of them Ruth Carol Brinton, and he “was fixed on her and couldn’t get over it.” Soon he was driving his old Durant by Ruth’s house every morning to “haul” her and her friends to South High School before he rushed on to East High. With World War II underway, Bill enlisted in the Navy’s V-12 officers’ training program, cramming four years of college into two. He graduated from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, in electrical engineering, but not before marrying his “little Ruthie” at St. Charles, Missouri, on October 27, 1944. After 70 years she is still his “best gal.”
The war ended before Bill shipped out, and when the Navy reduced its numbers, Bill resigned his commission as Ensign in the Naval Reserve. He and Ruth moved back to Salt Lake City where he pursued various jobs before becoming a partner in the local grocery he later owned and managed: Foodland on 4500 South and Highland Drive. After it closed in 1963, he tried his hand at selling mutual funds, manufacturing Fros-T-Dogs in Boston, and managing the Hilltop IGA Market. In 1967, he and a partner purchased the production contract for the Hill Air Force Base newspaper, the Hilltop Times. Bill later became sole owner of the contract and established his own printing and advertising firm, MorMedia. The Hilltop Times became a winner in competitions among papers in the nationwide Air Force Materiel Command. The year he retired, Bill was honored by the Utah Press Association as Master Editor and Publisher of 1997, and cited as “one who has worked hard, lived honorably, thought soundly, and influenced unselfishly.” In all of his enterprises Bill treated employees and customers with remarkable generosity.
Bill and his beloved Ruth became the parents of four children and the family resided in Holladay until the children were grown, when Bill and Ruth moved to Murray. He created little ditties to entertain his children, took great pride in their accomplishments, and adored the grandchildren whom he delighted with his jokes and games. “Gramps” was an ace at cards, and enjoyed fishing, particularly on the streams at the family cabin he and Ruth purchased in Big Cottonwood Canyon. He loved hosting family gatherings there, especially on the Fourth of July. He has blessed many hearts and they all bless his name and memory.
Willliam Arnold Mulvay was preceded in death by his parents, his sister Ruth Mulvay Stewart, and his grandson, Scott Anderson, and sisters and brothers in law and two nephews he dearly loved. He is survived by his wife, Ruth Brinton Mulvay; his children, JoEllen Anderson (K. Robert), Jill Derr (C. Brooklyn), Jan Strong (Richard K.) and William Scott Mulvay (Sheradon Bryce); 20 grandchildren and their spouses; and 25 great-grandchildren.
The family wishes to thank the staffs of Coventry Assisted Living, Haven Wellness, and Pine Mountain Health Care and Hospice for their sensitivity and loving care during the past year.
A celebration of life will take place on Saturday, May 24, 2014, 2:00 p.m., at Memorial Mortuary, 5850 South 900 East, Murray, Utah. The family will greet friends following the service. For online condolences, please go to www.redwoodmortuary.com.