Kathleen Mullen's Obituary
Kathleen Ellen Pekrul Mullen, 66, of Huntersville died January 16, 2023 at her home. She was born on August 15, 1956 in Lansing, Michigan to Muriel Hallgren Pekrul and the late Wilfred Peter Pekrul. She grew up with her three younger siblings in Lansing, West Branch, Petoskey, then Indian River, Michigan, a rural community in beautiful Northern Michigan. She always treasured her family and memories of living for a few years in a log cabin, family camping, swimming in local lakes, cross country skiing, picking famous morel mushrooms, and tubing the Sturgeon River.
Ambitious and adventurous, Kathleen paid her own way through college, earning a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Michigan Technological University; she later obtained her Professional Engineering license. She also went to sailing school in the Virgin Islands and traveled extensively across Europe.
She met her husband Mike in Atlanta, Georgia, where they were married before following job opportunities to the Charlotte area in the mid 1980s. They began a family in Huntersville, first by fostering then adopting Elizabeth at age 11 and then traveling to Russia to adopt Elena at age 10 and Olga at age 8.
Kathleen and Mike eventually began a Gen II family with grandchildren Aidan and Chloe, sending both to St. Mark Elementary School in kindergarten and continuing their Catholic education today. Aidan is a 10th grader at Christ the King Catholic High School, while Chloe is a 7th grader at St. Mark.
Kathleen was a registered Professional Engineer in North Carolina. She founded Pekrul Engineering, a PLLC providing mechanical engineering and HVAC expertise to poultry farms across the Southeast.
In addition to her mother, survivors include her husband Michael Mullen; daughters, Elizabeth Reilly (Justin) of Midland and Elena Mullen and Olga Mullen, both of Cornelius; grandchildren, Aidan, Chloe, Levi, Lyla and Michael; siblings, Daniel Pekrul, Lisa Lange (Kevin) and Jayne Higginbotham (Keith); several nieces and nephews; and numerous cousins across the US.
A funeral Mass will be held at 3 PM Thursday, January 19 at St. Mark Catholic Church that will be live streamed. Visitation will be 2-3 PM prior in the narthex of the church. Interment will follow at Northlake Memorial Gardens.
The funeral will be live-streamed here: https://www.stmarknc.org/livestream
Memorials may be made to St. Mark Catholic Church in Huntersville, North Carolina.
James Funeral Home of Huntersville, North Carolina is serving the family.
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