Jack Mueller

Jack Alvin Mueller, Jr., of Forest Hill, MD, passed away peacefully at home on May 8, 2022, with his son, William, and his wife of 35 years, Donna, by his side. Jack was born on March 31, 1950, to his late parents Dorothy (Knopp) and Jack A. Mueller, Sr., in York, PA. After attending North Harford High School, Jack enlisted into the U.S. Navy in 1969 during the Vietnam War and was honorably discharged in 1975. He travelled around the world; often reminisced about his adventures in Brazil, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and Providence, RI. In 1975, Jack received his GED and, in 1985, he graduated from the U.S. Army’s Electrician Apprenticeship Program. Jack began his 30-year Federal service career at Edgewood Arsenal in 1976 as a security guard and retired as an engineering technician. Throughout his career, Jack received numerous accolades for his exceptional accomplishments. While working part-time at Hochschild Kohn’s & Co. at the Harford Mall, Jack met Donna in 1980, through a mutual friend, and they were married on January 9, 1987, in Bel Air, MD. Upon retiring in 2006, Jack rekindled his love for the Lord and was baptized at Bel Forest Baptist Church by Pastor Rivers in March 2009.

Jack loved Oriole baseball, Ravens football and Maryland Terrapins basketball. As an avid sports fan, he collected all kinds of memorabilia and never missed a game. In his youth, Jack (aka Butch) pitched for the North Harford High School Hawks. His life-long love for baseball continued as he played third base and short-stop on the Joppa Automatic Transmission men’s slow-pitch softball team at the Marylander in Aberdeen and coached his son’s little league team and his wife’s SSA women’s softball team. Jack enjoyed riding bikes, putting puzzles together, swimming in the ocean, watching old westerns, scary movies and TV sitcoms, gardening, hiking, playing the Maryland lottery, decorating for Christmas, dressing up for Halloween, watching birds with his binoculars and taking bubble baths. Jack had a passion for cooking and was well known for his homemade crab soup; he always preferred steaming his own crabs. While working at the Blue Bell restaurant, he perfected steaming crabs so that not one claw was missing from a crab. He was a consummate joke teller with an infectious laugh. He said his yard was like the Garden of Eden because at any time you could see deer, rabbits, fox, raccoons, groundhogs, chipmunks, squirrels, frogs, turtles and a wide variety of birds, bees and butterflies. He was the proud owner of two cockatiels and six rescue parakeets. Jack truly loved and trusted in the Lord and enjoyed reading the Bible, teaching Bible study and helping with Vacation Bible School at Bel Forest Baptist Church. Jack truly was a “Jack of all trades.”

Jack leaves behind his devoted wife Donna, loving son William, sisters-in-law Sandra (Byrne) Barstow and Mary (Betty) (McLain) Byrne, brothers-in-law George (Doc) Barstow and Johnny Byrne, niece Cora (Barstow) Baldwin and her husband Drew and family, niece Cheryl (Byrne) Johns and her husband Rick and family, nephew John Byrne and his family, nephew Daniel Byrne and his wife Megan (Jones) and family, Larry Ward (half-brother), Samuel Ward (half-brother) and many dear friends. 

The family will be hosting a Celebration of Life memorial service for Jack to be held on Sunday, July 24, 2022, at 4:30 pm, at Bel Forest Baptist Church, 603 Vale Road, Bel Air, MD 21014.

Donations in Jack’s memory can be made to Bel Forest Baptist Church or Gilchrist Hospice, 11311 McCormick Road, Suite 350, Hunt Valley, MD 21031.  

The family wishes to thank Gilchrist Hospice staff, especially Nurse Edna and Aide Kathy, for their excellent service and care.  A special thanks to Pastor Rivers and the Bel Forest Baptist Church family for their wonderful spiritual guidance and support. Psalm 34:4 (KJV) “I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.”