Husband. Father. Brother. Friend. Journalist. Badger. The UW-Madison community lost one of its own Friday as Wisconsin State Journal writer Tom Mulhern passed away from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease at the age of 56.
Mulhern was diagnosed with this extremely rare brain disorder, which affects one in a million people, two months ago reports Tom Oates. While Mulhern passed away far too young, the impact he had on everyone around him has been immeasurable.
“He taught me old-school values like integrity and honesty and that these things still matter in a fast-paced world,” said Tom Oates, his colleague and friend at the Wisconsin State Journal, in his obituary.
Mulhern worked as the beat writer for the UW football team for the past 15 years, covering the Badgers with impartiality and grace. As a football writer, Mulhern covered people like former coaches Bret Bielema and Paul Chryst and former quarterback Scott Tolzien.
When they learned about his diagnosis they all called, according to Oates. Tolzien wrote a letter and came to visit him. He wanted to pick his brain and receive some words of wisdom and advice from Mulhern, according to Oates’ story.
This was the essence of Mulhern. His sincerity and passion for telling the whole story inspired not just his colleagues, but also the people he covered.
“Tom always respected the people he covered and the people he covered respected him,” Oates said. “That’s a hard thing to maintain in this business, but even when he criticized the people he covered, they still had respect for him.”
In his time away from the job, Mulhern was a dedicated family man, who lost his wife, Barb, to cancer five years ago. He raised three sons Greg, 28; Chris, 25; and Will, 21. He had four siblings and step-siblings and was a large part of their lives, according to Oates’ story. He coached youth baseball for his sons on an annual basis, reports Jason Wilde. Mulhern was always able to find the balance between his professional life and his family life, and excel in both areas.
In addition to creating his own journalistic works, Mulhern was always influencing his colleagues, helping to them to create their best stories.
“He made me a better columnist. He always helped to crystallize my thinking,” Oates said.
Furthermore, Mulhern was always willing to go out of his way to help aspiring journalists in Madison, something he certainly didn’t have to do, but did out of pure generosity.
“Tom was always very helpful to young reporters. He treated them with respect and always had patience with them. And he always made sure he was available to them,” Oates said.
That kindness and willingness to go out of his way to help improve others was one of the defining traits of Mulhern. He did so because he cared about his craft, about journalism and about helping others reach their full potential.
