Skip to content
Obituaries
Link copied to clipboard

Joseph G. Mundy, 95, machinist, businessman

Joseph G. Mundy, 95, a Westinghouse Electric Co. machinist who helped build ships for the Navy during World War II and later founded several businesses, died Thursday, Oct. 25, of an abdominal blood clot at Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland.

Joseph G. Mundy, 95, a Westinghouse Electric Co. machinist who helped build ships for the Navy during World War II and later founded several businesses, died Thursday, Oct. 25, of an abdominal blood clot at Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland.

The oldest of 13 children of Italian immigrant parents, he was born and raised near Wilkes-Barre.

At 21, he married Esther C. Simmons, whom he had met at nearby Harveys Lake, and in 1939, the two moved to Glenolden so Mr. Mundy could work at the Westinghouse plant in Lester.

He quickly became one of the company's most productive lathe operators, said his son, Byron. At the time Westinghouse held several ship-building contracts with the Navy.

After the U.S. entered the war, Westinghouse requested draft deferments for its most vital employees, including Mr. Mundy. His deferment was granted, and he continued to work there until 1950.

In 1951, he moved to Collingdale, where he built Mundy's Sporting Goods store in front of his home at 1008 MacDade Blvd. He sold hunting and fishing equipment, including guns and rifles, as well as bicycles and lawn mowers. The store, which Mr. Mundy sold in the late 1970s, is now Suburban Armory.

In 1954, Mr. Mundy began doing contract machining work, mostly for Westinghouse, in his store and the basement of his home. The business grew, and in 1968 he built the Mundy Machine Shop on MacDade Boulevard in Collingdale. His two sons still run the business.

"My father would come into the store in recent years and sit at a desk, and we would tell him what was going on," his son said. "He never officially retired."

Mr. Mundy was a fisherman and hunter. In his mid-50s, he and his wife took up snow skiing. For the next 20 years, they spent the winter in Aspen, Colo.

His wife died of cancer in 1987.

Surviving, in addition to his son, are another son, Gerald Bruce; two daughters, Beverly Hunter and Karen Flynn; eight grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; a brother; three sisters; and his companion, Natalia Volkova.

A visitation from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. Friday, Nov. 2, will be followed by an 11 a.m. funeral service, both at the O'Leary Funeral Home, 640 E. Springfield Rd., Springfield. Interment will follow in SS. Peter and Paul Cemetery, Marple Township.