Necrology

John Joseph Musselman, Jr. '47

Dec. 20, 1926-Oct. 27, 2022

John Joseph Musselman, Jr. ’47, P’89,’90, GP’08 died on Oct. 27, 2022, in Scottsdale, Ariz. He was born on Dec. 20, 1926, in Palmyra, N.J., but his mother died shortly after his birth. He lived with his aunt Elizabeth until he was 3 and then joined his father and brother in Watertown, N.Y.

His father, John J. Musselman, Sr. ’17, P’47,’50, GP’75, owned a local confectionery store and restaurant. John Jr. worked there from an early age and occasionally had to make himself scarce: local officials sometimes stopped in to investigate instances of child labor that deprived adults of one of the few jobs available during the Great Depression.

He graduated from Immaculate Heart Academy at the age of 16 in 1943 and worked full time for his father. Although it took a year of lobbying to gain his father’s permission to fight in World War II, he succeeded and joined the Navy. He hoped to be a fighter pilot but suffered from color blindness: after carefully memorizing the answers with the help of a friend for the color blindness test, he managed to pass and began training at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa. In addition to flight school, he took classes, the credits for which Hamilton accepted when he matriculated in 1945. He had additional flight training in Yakima, Wash., where he prepared to participate in the campaign against Japan, but the war ended before he saw active service.

In 1945, Hamilton was still on a wartime footing and most of those on campus were in military training in one of three programs established at the College. The number of “civilian” students was still very small, there were no extracurricular activities other than intramural sports, and none of the fraternities were in operation. John got a job washing dishes and waiting on tables at the Lambda Chi Alpha house. He later recalled waiting tables for both wealthy students who had somehow avoided military service as well as some whose health precluded their participation.

If there is one lesson to be taken from John’s life, it is that he was not afraid of work. While at Hamilton, at the start of every weekend, he returned to Watertown, either by bus or hitchhiking on Route 12, to work in his father’s diner. He helped both weekend days, returning to campus on Sunday evening. During summers, he worked at the diner full time.

Taking advantage of his transferred academic credits from Muhlenberg, John completed his degree in two years, majoring in German and economics. He then returned to Watertown and the family business, where he worked until 1950 to repay his parents for underwriting his college education.

That year, John began his career with the General Motors Acceptance Corp (GMAC). As its field representative in Watertown, he assisted customers in financing purchases ranging from kitchen appliances and cars to home mortgages and commercial real estate.  

One afternoon while he was working at the diner, a high school buddy named Jack Galloway came in accompanied by his cousin Mary Claire Donahue. Something clicked, and family lore holds that thereafter John saw to it that her order for a dish of ice cream got an extra scoop or two. They were married in Watertown on July 5, 1952. They had seven children, two of whom graduated from Hamilton.

In 1960, GMAC transferred John to Syracuse to become a credit manager. Two years later he became the assistant branch manager there. In 1965, he and his family relocated once again, this time to New York City, where he was promoted to overseeing branch operations. In 1967, he became branch manager of GMAC’s Philadelphia office. Promotions continued over the course of what was a more than 40-year career, and John retired as vice president for staff administration at GMAC’s headquarters in Detroit in 1991. After living in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., for a few more years, John and Mary relocated to Scottsdale.

He carried his strong work ethic throughout his entire career. His son John recalled that his father brought work home on nights and weekends. Not surprisingly, he expected his children to be similarly task-oriented in their studies. “He insisted that we have good grades first and foremost and was supportive of our extracurricular activities,” John recalled, “but insisted that school came first, and so we were not really required or allowed to work for money before we were 18.”

Yet John’s dedication to his career had important limits. While interviewing for a new position at GMAC, he was asked to list his top four priorities in life. John’s response was succinct and honest: “God, family, country, company.” Someone else got the position, one who presumably ranked work somewhat higher.

John remained a lifelong man of faith. A devout Roman Catholic, he attended mass almost daily, and it was his faith that was the foundation of his life as a parent and as a businessman.

Among the many GMAC employees whom John mentored was a future president of the company, William Lovejoy. Informed of John’s death, he wrote: “In a nutshell, John was hard but fair. He valued principle, hard work, people, and opportunities for those who earned their stripes on the job. John mentored me, was not above associating with underlings, and commanded loyalty, respect, and integrity. … He loved his family, his faith, his friends. He continued learning and teaching others things they needed to know for success.”  

Though surrounded by colleagues with advanced degrees from such institutions as the Wharton School and the Harvard Business School or from law schools of comparable pedigree, John made no secret of the fact that his rigorous education on the Hill stood him in very good stead.  

His devotion to the College is reflected in his financial contributions as well as in his extensive service to it as a volunteer for two capital campaigns, as a member of the Alumni Council and an officer of the Alumni Association, as reunion gift committee chair, and as class committee member and chair.

John J. Musselman is survived by two daughters, three sons, including Stephen J. Musselman ’90, Stephen’s wife Aileen M. Slocum Musselman ’92, nine grandchildren, including Stephen T. Laycock ’08, and three great-grandchildren. In addition to his father, he is predeceased by one of his daughters, his son Mark P. Musselman ’89, his uncle Francis C. R. Musselman ’25, P’75, and his brothers Francis H. Musselman ’50, P’75 and Bernard C. Musselman ’54.

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