George Mullen played many roles: loving husband and father, steadfast friend, brilliant chemist, avid golfer, voracious reader, chess master, indomitable jigsaw puzzler.

Of all his interests, the most important by far was family. That includes his wife of 53 years, Georgia, four children and five grandchildren. His fondest recollections were family events, including rock concerts and beach vacations. George loved walking the beach, although getting his feet wet was enough immersion for him.

George worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 28 years. He earned a doctorate in organic chemistry at the State University of New York at Buffalo, and work took him to Philadelphia, Rochester, N.Y., and Waltham, Mass. His name is attached to many pharmaceutical patents. While residing in Avon, N.Y., he held many leadership roles in the Lions Club. In Milford, Mass., he became active in the Catholic church, an affiliation he continued when he retired to Wilmington, N.C., in 2006.

In Wilmington George Byron Mullen pursued golf. His middle name honored his father’s favorite golfer, Byron Nelson. George worked as a starter on a golf course because he loved the sport and the people who played it. He also got to play for free, fulfilling a personal pledge to play 18 holes at least twice a week. As a personal bonus, the retiree made two holes in one.

When George was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2007, he attacked the problem with the same tenacity as he had in the lab. He studied, reading everything he could find about the disease. He collaborated with doctors on a course of action and participated in several clinical trials to advance research into cancer and to prolong his life.

George, age 78, died Jan. 4, 2025, in Charleston, S.C., where he and his wife had moved in 2020.

He is survived by his wife, Georgia, two daughters, Jessica Conheady of Ladson, SC, and Erica Mullen of New York City, a son, Nate Mullen of East Greenwich, R.I., grandchildren Elijah, Lucas, Kerry Joon, Celeste and Cade, and a sister, Ruth. A son, Casey, predeceased him in 1991.

It should be noted that George had an appreciation for good bourbon and used it as the core ingredient for many delicious concoctions that were enjoyed by many but never patented. Raising a glass would be an appropriate salute to a life well lived.