Stephen Morell Mullins

STEPHEN MORELL MULLINS, Real Estate Entrepreneur, Champion Swimmer, Museum Founder. Stephen Morell Mullins of Evanston, IL died June 2nd, 2019 of complications from colo-rectal cancer in Evanston, Illinois. Mr. Mullins was born in Ottawa, Illinois, July 30, 1932 to Helen G. Mullins and Howard R. Mullins, both originally of Paris, Illinois.  He was a graduate of New Trier High School (1950), Dartmouth College (1954) and the University of Michigan Business School (1958). In 1954-1956 he served two years in the United States Army in Germany as an Ammunition Supply Lieutenant. He began his business career in marketing with Commonwealth Edison, followed by six years as an investment broker for E.F. Hutton and Co. In 1968 Mr. Mullins left the corporate world to pursue the real estate investment and development business, with seed money of $2000 left him by his grandmother. In 1974 he co-founded Great Northern Financial Group, which grew into a major real estate investment company. In 1988 Mr. Mullins sold his interest in that company to continue as an individual real estate investor and developer, at which he continued until his death. Specializing in the rehabilitation and redevelopment of multi-family residential projects during more than 50 years in the real estate business, he was involved in the operation of more than 17,000 apartment units and two million square feet of commercial real estate, spread over seventeen states. Never fully retired, he was visiting his office daily until shortly before his death. Mr. Mullins was an active competitive swimmer throughout his life. He swam on the New Trier 1950 National Championship High School team and was a two-time All-American at Dartmouth. Later in life he was an early participant in the nascent U.S. Masters Swimming organization, and, through 35 plus years, achieved multiple state, national, and Pan American Championships, culminating in a Gold Medal at the World Masters Championship in Budapest, Hungary in 2017. Most recently he organized and swam on an 85-year- old -plus relay team, which broke four world records in one day. Swimming took Mr. Mullins to a plethora of International championship meet venues around the world from Perth to Casablanca to Kazan, Russia and beyond. Born with an early in life travel bug, Mr. Mullins twice traveled by road in the 1940s and 1950s to all the states of the union. After he graduated from college he hitchhiked around the western states. He resumed his traveling with his family in the 1970s and 1980s, driving to 49 states and culminating in a final flight to Hawaii. Added to the latter endeavor were all the provinces of Canada and he more recently visited all of Canada’s northern territories as well. As a baseball fanatic all his life, Mr. Mullins and buddy, Ed Chainski recently culminated a visit to nearly 100 minor league baseball parks in 40 states during a period of 25 years. A lifelong collector of Character and Toby Jugs, Mr. Mullins established in 1993 the American Toby Jug Museum in Evanston to house the collection. Beginning at age 15 with the purchase of six Royal Doulton Character Jugs, Mr. Mullins’ collection grew to become the largest, finest and most complete of its kind in the world. The not-for-profit museum now features more than 8,500 jugs and derivatives spanning 250 years of production from more than 200 potteries and 35 countries around the world. The museum welcomes thousands of visitors per year from all over the globe. Mr. Mullins also co-authored three major books on the subject, gave lectures throughout England and the United States, and was considered the arbiter on the subject throughout the world. A long-time active Dartmouth alumnus, Mr. Mullins served as President of his 1954 Class, President of the Dartmouth Club of Chicago, and President of the Dartmouth Alumni Council representing more than 70,000 alumni across the world.  He served on several Dartmouth capital campaign committees and was the National Chairman of Special Gifts, which set numerous Dartmouth fundraising records. He also served on a Dartmouth Presidential Search Committee and was the recipient of Dartmouth’s highest Alumni Award for service. Nearly a 50 year resident of Evanston, Mr. Mullins was a longtime supporter of Northlight Theater where he served as chairman of its Board of Trustees for three years. He also served on the Evanston Planning Commission, the Evanston History Center capital campaign, and, with his wife, was a longtime supporter of the Evanston Community Foundation. He is survived by his loving wife Carol of 56 years, children Stephanie Mullins-Wine (Jonah), Elizabeth Mullins Scales (Jeffrey), both of Evanston, and Rian Douglas Mullins (Elyse) of Truckee, CA, plus four precocious grandchildren, Hartley, Declan, Gabriel and Anabelle. Funeral services will be held at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 1509 Ridge Avenue. Evanston on Saturday, June 8th at 3PM. An evening of Remembrances will be held on Sunday, June 9 from 3-7PM at The American Toby Jug Museum, 900 Chicago Avenue, Suite 105. In lieu of flowers, make donations to Northlight Theater, Evanston Community Foundation or The Evanston History Center. Arrangements entrusted to Chicagoland Cremation Options of Schiller Park, Illinois.