McMinnville resident and Erie, Pa., native Robert J. Mahoney, 89, died Dec. 15 at River Park Hospital after an extended illness.
A postman, a tailor in the Navy, an aluminum worker, and handy man, he led a prison ministry in South Dakota where he also built his own home when he was in his 60s. He served honorably in the U.S. Navy during World War II in Dutch Harbor, Alaska where he received the Victory Medal. He also started the first naval library in Dutch Harbor.
He is survived by daughters, Margie A. and husband Bruce Bibby of Salem, Ore., and Katherine M. Mahoney of White City, Ore.; Thomas M. and wife Donna Mahoney of McMinnville; sister, Eleanor King of Eric, Pa.; 14 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Martha Marie Schmidt Mahoney, second wife, Alta Faye Sylvester; and brothers, John, Daniel, Michael and Edmund Mahoney.
Services will be held at 1 p.m. Monday at Gardens of Memory Funeral Home with Rev. Marcus Hayes officiating. Burial will follow at Gardens of Memory Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday at the funeral home.
Gardens of Memory Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Southern Standard
(McMinnville, Tenn.) Dec. 16, 2012