John (“Jack”) F. Mundorff, 91, of South Connellsville, passed out of this life on July 2, 2018, after waging a courageous battle against heart, lung and renal disease, in the comfort of his home, with his loving daughter Gretchen and her husband Don at his bedside. One of nine children of Wilma Grace (Durbin) Mundorff and John F. Mundorff, Jack was born on April 1, 1927, at the family’s home place on Dickerson Run Hill. Jack graduated from Dunbar Township High School in 1945, where he had met the love and light of his life and future wife, Kathryn (“Kitty”) Provance, at the age of 14 at marching band practice.
Upon graduation from high school, Jack answered the call of duty to his country and enlisted in the United States Maritime Service. He advanced in the Armed Service Forces, Transportation Corps, Water Division, and at the age of 18, he deployed to the South Pacific aboard the USAT Lockhart. Upon returning from the service, Jack and Kitty were married on Sept.
4, 1948, and lived in Pittsburgh, where he worked in a steel mill and a box factory on the North Side and drove a taxi, and she worked as a Pittsburgh public health nurse. Together, and with the help of their families, Jack and Kitty began building their first home in Dunbar Township. During the course of construction, Jack was called to the service again for the Korean War.
He reported for basic training to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, S.C. There, he injured his back on night maneuvers and as a result, was stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp LeJeune as a rifle-range instructor for the duration of the Korean War. When Jack returned home, he finished the house and worked for the B&O Railroad until he took a job in 1954 with a new upstart financial-lending company called the Associates. In the early 1960s, while still working for the Associates, Jack and his neighbor and dear friend, George Snyder, started a business they named B&G Mobile Homes after their only children at the time, Billy and Gretchen.
By 1969, Jack had the responsibility as a branch manager of the Associates for offices in southwestern Pennsylvania, western Maryland, northwestern West Virginia, and southeastern Ohio when he, an avid recreational skipper, was recruited by Coachman Industries to design and oversee the manufacture of a speed boat, the Viking Run About, which is still being sold today. However, Associates still had plans for this talented deal-maker and enticed him back to manage the offices in the Philadelphia metro area, New Jersey, and Delaware. Upon his retirement in 1989, Jack was senior vice president of the Transportation Division of the Associates Commercial Corporation of North America, a Gulf & Western subsidiary; had offices in Chicago and Pittsburgh; and was responsible for all Associates Transportation Division offices east of the Mississippi.
In the late 1970s, Jack formed his own trucking company, JFM Trucking, Inc., was named president of the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association and coined the Association’s brand slogan, “trucks are beautiful”. In his retirement, he continued to act as a financial consultant to the Associates, as well as other corporations in the Pittsburgh area. Active in the Connellsville community, which he loved, Jack was a longtime member of the Kiwanis and Elks clubs and the South Connellsville Lions Club.
A member of the Pleasant Valley Country Club, Jack hosted more than 20 golf outings to raise money for the American Heart Association and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Jack was also active in his church, Albright United Methodist in South Connellsville, where he was a member of the chancel choir, for which Kitty served as director; served as a trustee; and served on church council. An avid gardener and lover of flowers, Jack, together with Kitty, and with the help of family friend Tony Grasso, designed, constructed, and maintained the memorial garden at the church.
Jack was a natural athlete and loved to water ski and swim at Deep Creek and Youghiogheny lakes, where he kept his boats throughout his life. He also enjoyed biking, ice skating, snowmobiling, and golfing. He had a passion for travel and a natural curiosity about other cultures.
But those who knew Jack understood that the greatest passion and joy in his life was his family. In addition to his parents, Jack was predeceased by Kitty, his wife of 56 years and sweetheart from age 14, in 2004; brothers, Franklin, Donald and Lawrence Mundorff; sister, Helen Marie (Mundorff) Bigam; infant twin sisters, Alice and Mary, who died at birth; and faithful canine companions — his collie girls — Chelsea and Molleigh. Jack leaves to cherish his memory his daughters, Gretchen Adele Mundorff and her husband Donald Heckathorne of Connellsville, who were his longtime live-in caregivers; Jennifer Susan Mundorff and her husband Tony Surratt of Roanoke, Va.
; his granddaughter and wife’s namesake, Kathryn (“Katy”) Davis and her husband Dustin Davis of Roanoke, Va. ; sisters, Wilma Grace (Mundorff) Anderson of Uniontown and Roberta Lee Mundorff of Connellsville; sister-in-law, Dorene Provance of Dunbar; and many nieces and nephews, whom he adored. Jack’s family wishes to thank his primary care physician, Dr. Albert Enany and his staff for the wonderful care they gave Jack over the course of the past 30 years.
The family is also grateful for the care and compassion of Jack’s hospice physician, Dr. Gina Canada, and his team of wonderful hospice nurses and aides. We will never forget your many kindnesses to Jack and to us. Jack’s family will receive relatives and friends from 2-5 and 7-9 p.m. Thursday, July 5, and from 10 a.m. to noon, the hour of a memorial service celebrating Jack’s life, on Friday, July 6, at the Albright United Methodist Church, 1626 S. Pittsburgh St., South Connellsville, with the Rev.
Steven M. Lamb officiating. Interment will follow in Mount Auburn Cemetery, Dunbar.
If you found any mistakes, or you would like to add/remove to this obituary, please contact us by email: info@obituary.memorial. We never ask money for this.
