Uniontown library honors McMullen
Uniontown Public Library honored the efforts and memory of a Fayette County man during a plaque dedication ceremony Monday. John “Jack” McMullen was recognized by family members, friends and officials for his dedication and ongoing support of the library.
McMullen died in 2005, but those who spoke about him said McMullen’s spirit lives on as the library continues to provide needed services for members of the community.
“We’re here today, in this building, because of Jack McMullen,” said Larry Bush, president of the library’s board of directors.
McMullen was a popular disc jockey and newsman for WMBS Radio in Uniontown who also had radio experience in Florida and on the West Coast.
The World War II veteran also worked as the executive director of the Fayette County Redevelopment Authority and was the former head of the Uniontown Bureau of Community Development.
Bush said McMullen helped the city of Uniontown acquire the land where the public library is now located from the Uniontown Free Public Library Association in 1966.
The building, located at 24 Jefferson St., was built the following year and then dedicated, undergoing renovations in 1993.
Bush said the Uniontown Public Library is “the finest library in southwestern Pennsylvania” and that the library has seen an increase in patrons during the recent economic decline.
The plaque reads, “The Uniontown Public Library honors the efforts and memory of John A. ‘Jack’ McMullen who helped secure the land and resources to build this library+and who for fifty years served his community as a beloved and trusted voice and personality on local radio.”
Retired Fayette County Judge Fred Adams thanked everyone who attended Monday’s dedication ceremony and said his close friend would have been proud to accept the honor.
Also speaking at the ceremony were Fayette County Commissioners Vincent A. Vicites and Angela M. Zimmerlink.
McMullen’s wife, Carolyn Joan Ciarlo McMullen, and his son, John McMullen, attended the ceremony and thanked everyone for their support and recognition of their husband and father, respectively.
John McMullen said his father often took him to the Uniontown Public Library as a child and that the library became an integral part of his education as he grew older.
Speaking of his father, John McMullen said, “Of all the things he did, all those projects he helped get the land and develop the plans for as head of Community Development and Redevelopment Authority director, the bypass, the East End rehabilitation project, Mount Vernon Towers, all the low- and middle-income housing, he was proudest of his contribution to the library.”
John McMullen thanked the library board of directors for supporting the plaque dedication in honor of his father and thanked Adams for fostering the idea.
“My pop would be proud,” he said.