Obituary for JOHN RILEY MCNULTY Dr. John R. McNulty, born March 24,1924, in Ogdensburg, New York, passed peacefully into the next life on March 13, 2018. He was surrounded by devoted family, who will remember him always for his sense of adventure, his loving spirit, and his dedication to the life of the mind. After his freshman year of college, he was drafted and served in the U.S. Army, ending his tour in Europe in 1945.
On his return, John completed his undergraduate education in 1949 at Holy Cross, in Worcester, MA. He followed his own father’s footsteps by receiving his medical training at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, which he completed in 1953. For thirty years, he dedicated himself to excellence in medicine as a general surgeon in Amsterdam, New York, where he served on the Surgical and Medical Board of Directors at St. Mary’s Hospital and at Amsterdam Memorial Hospital.
He retired from surgery in 1983, and he and his beloved wife, Suzanne, moved to Jonesboro, Louisiana, where he continued his practice for several years before retiring to Chapel Hill, North Carolina. During his retirement, John served at the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Deschapelles, Haiti. He volunteered with the North Carolina Botanical Gardens and at the UNC Newman Center, both in Chapel Hill, for many years, as well as at the UNC School of Medicine, where he recorded medical textbooks.
John attended over 175 seminars at the UNC Humanities Program over three decades, and he and Suzanne attended nearly every production of the Playmakers Repertory Theatre. He studied Italian and Spanish, travelled widely, read deeply, and cared tenderly for Suzanne in her declining years. John was an accomplished chef and knowledgeable gardener, and he adored his dogs, especially Babette and Josette, who followed him everywhere he went.
He brought our family together every summer at the beach for 30 years. Our father was the embodiment of unconditional love in all of our lives, and our memories of him will continue to warm and guide us. He is survived by his daughter Michelle (Kevin), son Thomas (Janet), daughter Maura McNulty-Finn, and son John Riley McNulty (Songtao).
He is also survived by his lovely sister, Joan, and brother-in-law Frank Okey, and by his sister-in-law Helene Roumain, as well as several nieces and nephews. His dignity, his decency and his love of learning will forever influence the lives of his grandchildren, Sean, Eric, Stephanie, Tyler, Rose, Nicholas, Jessica, Clara, Molly, Quinlan and Gwendolyne. He is predeceased by his wife of 61 years, Suzanne (nee Lancelot), his brother, Lloyd T. McNulty, and his son-in-law, John F. Finn.
A funeral Mass will be held for John at the UNC Newman Center in Chapel Hill, NC, on April 14th, at 11AM, after which his ashes will be interred with Suzanne’s at St.Thomas More Catholic Church. In lieu of flowers, please donate to The Albert Schweitzer Hospital (hashaiti.org). To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of JOHN RILEY MCNULTY please visit our Sympathy Store.
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.
