March 24, 2021

Pittsfield native Joan Mullaney dies; was instrumental in sainthood cause of Frances Nevins

Staff report
REGIONAL

SPRINGFIELD — Joan Ward Mullaney, of Pittsfield, died on Sunday, March 21 at Allied Services Meade Street Hospice Unit, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Prior to hospitalization, she resided at The Pines at Mercy Center, and Mercy Center Personal Care Unit, Dallas, Pa.

She served as professor and dean at The Catholic University of America, Washington D.C. She was awarded Catholic University’s highest honor, the President’s Medal, by the Board of Trustees. She also was awarded the Benemerenti Medal by Pope John Paul II.

Born in Pittsfield on Sept. 30, 1931, daughter of Florence Ward Curry and James Francis Mullaney, she graduated from Pittsfield High School in 1949. She graduated from the College of St. Rose in New York in 1954; earned a master’s degree at Boston College in 1958, and a doctorate at Catholic University in 1963. She completed post-doctoral study at the University of Michigan, School of Public Health; Harvard University Medical School, Department of Community Psychiatry; and Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of International Studies.

She was appointed to the Catholic University faculty as assistant professor in 1963. She was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 1969, and to ordinary (full) professor in 1984. She was the first woman elected by the faculty to serve on the Board of Trustees. In the field of international social work education, she established with the faculty of the Pontifical Catholic University, Santiago, Chile, a new degree, master of teaching social work.

She published research focused on interdisciplinary education, mental health services, and housing policy. She was named Outstanding Teacher of the Year by Catholic University students in 1990.

As a leading social work professional educator and dean, she chaired the Washington, D.C., chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. She was a member of the White House Commission on Mental Health chaired by First Lady Rosalynn Carter. She was also a designated member of the Academy of Science, Institute of Medicine for its landmark study of bereavement.

She was appointed by Smith College as Visiting Professor of Research between 1972 and 1990. In 1985, she was named Visiting Scholar, Austen Riggs Center, Stockbridge, where she completed a research study of the Riggs Clinic and its role as a pioneer mental health program in early 20th century rural Massachusetts.

She was active in the Roman Catholic Church. In 1993, she became a formal Mercy Associate of the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas. In 2009, she published a well-reviewed spiritual biography, Frances Nevins Mid-20th Century Carmelite, Friend, Scholar, Wife, Nun and Mystic, and was actively involved with the canonization cause of Longmeadow native Frances Nevins. In Pittsfield, she was a member of St. Mark Parish.

Surviving her are Sister of Mercy RuthAnn Fox, of Dallas, Pa., several cousins, friends, and professional colleagues.

A graveside service will be held Thursday, March 25 at 10:30 a.m. at Mount Olivet Cemetery, Carverton, Pa. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, there was no viewing or Mass of Christian Burial.

Donations can be made to Mercy Center, P.O. Box 370, Dallas, PA 18612.