John Jacob Mutchler

John Jacob Mutchler, “Jack” was born on July 6, 1938, in Blooming Grove, N.Y., to the late Martin (“Bill”) and Marie (Eurich) Mutchler. He passed away peacefully at home on June 15, 2026. He was a lifelong resident of Monroe, growing up in a time when neighboring farmers helped neighbors. He shared stories of farm life and growing up in Monroe in the 1940’s and 1950’s with his daughters and grandchildren, speaking of haying, the various animals on the farm, and milking cows. At one point, his family lived in the historic Reynolds House on Reynolds Road during World War II.

Because of World War II and the lack of manpower, Jack started first grade rather than kindergarten in 1943 at the age of 5. When he graduated from Monroe High School (now North Main Street Elementary School), he was only 16 years old and the youngest in his Class of 1955. Turning 17 in July, he had to have his parents sign for him to enlist in the US Marine Corps in August 1955. He joined up as part of a buddy program with his friend Dick Jados and served from 1955 to 1959, eventually rising to the rank of Lance Corporal.

While serving in the Marines, a local newspaper, The Monroe Gazette, each year would list all the names of the men and women who were serving in the armed forces and provided their mailing addresses for the local townspeople to send holiday cards and packages. A young Loretta Yungmann and her family had a home in Monroe, and one weekend up from Brooklyn, she and her cousin picked out the names they liked of the young men listed in the Gazette and sent them Christmas cards. Loretta used the Monroe weekend house as her return address, and this prompted Jack to write to her to ask her who she was – Monroe was a small community in those days, and he knew pretty much every family who lived there, but had not heard of the Yungmann family. This started a letter exchange, courtship, and an engagement when Jack came home on leave. After his service in the Marines ended, Jack went to work at Orange & Rockland Utilities (as many Mutchler men did!) in February 1960, culminating with retirement in September 1997, after a 37.5 year career.

Jack and Loretta were married on September 4, 1960, at Sacred Heart Church on Stage Road in Monroe and were blessed with over 65 years of marriage. They raised three daughters, Catherine Gilewitch (Dan), Kristina Johnson, and Stacey Husted, in the same house they bought in 1964, making that their permanent home. However, with three girls, the one bathroom house was not sufficient, so in 1971, Jack, with the help of some friends, built an entire second story to their house to add a bathroom and four bedrooms. Jack and Loretta enjoyed their six grandchildren, Nicholas and Thomas Gilewitch, Emily (Pittman) and James Johnson, and Olivia (Clark) and Isabelle Husted, and in recent years began greeting nine great grandchildren, the youngest who is nicknamed “Jack”.

After retirement, Jack and Loretta enjoyed traveling the world, visiting their daughters, especially when they lived in far off places like Germany, Egypt and Italy. Jack once said that Egypt was a highlight because he found it to be the most unusual. While touring Venice, Italy, he remarked that while growing up on a farm in Monroe, he never expected to see places like that in his lifetime. Jack and Loretta hosted two generations of West Point Cadets at their home, opening it to all who needed a respite from Cadet life for a weekend.

Jack also kept his hands busy doing electrical jobs for many people, his name being passed along for his quality work. It had been joked that Jack had wired half of Monroe. He was known for being able to fix and repair things, with one grandson remarking, “Grandpa can fix anything!”

Jack was an avid sportsman and hunter, having been a member of the Monroe-Chester Sportsman Club for over 60 years, as well as the Woodbury Field and Stream Club for 60 years. He enjoyed domestic and foreign hunting trips, his favorite being one in Scotland that Loretta was able to go with him on a tour program set up for the wives of the hunters. Jack started deer hunting at the age of 16, and except for a pause during his service in the Marines, hunted every year until 2021, being his last season. Jack was inducted into the New York State Skeet Shooter Hall of Fame in August 2008. He began competing in skeet shooting in 1975, and competed well into his 80s, often out shooting men half his age, and ran multiple straight 100s throughout his shooting career. Jack served as a Director of the New York State Skeet Shooting Association for decades, only recently stepping down. He and Loretta traveled extensively over skeet season to attend shoots around New York state every summer.

All who knew Jack could not miss his immense patriotism and pride in his military service. He thought the highlight of his time in the Marines was seeing foreign lands when he was stationed in Okinawa, as well as a month spent in the Philippines. In later years, he helped to establish the Marine Corps League Bear Mountain Detachment, which had membership for 20 years before it was disbanded. He then joined the Greater Newburgh Marine Corps Detachment and enjoyed the monthly meetings, comradery, and the annual Marine Corps Birthday celebration. Jack was privileged to be the Oldest Marine at the November 2024 celebration and was given the honor of cutting the cake and following the tradition as the oldest Marine present, serving the first slice of cake to the youngest Marine present. This meant so much to him that he sent each of his daughters a photo of the occasion with a note explaining the tradition.

Jack stayed active until his recent diagnosis and suffering from the effects of igLON5 encephalitis, a very rare autoimmune disease that even his neurology team at Westchester Medical had never dealt with. He maintained a positive demeanor, and all his nurses and healthcare providers loved helping and caring for Mr. Jack.

Left to remember and honor his memory are his wife, Loretta, his three daughters, six grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren, his younger sister Irene Kraus of Pennsylvania, multiple nieces and nephews, and countless friends. He was predeceased by his parents and his older brother William.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Smith, Seaman & Quackenbush, 117 Maple Avenue, Monroe, NY. Visitation will be held on Friday, June 26, from 10 a.m.– 12 p.m. at the funeral home, followed by a Funeral Mass at 12:30 p.m., at Sacred Heart Church, 26 Still Road, Monroe. Following completion of the Mass, burial will be at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery, 111 Craigville Road, Goshen, NY.

In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that Jack’s memory be honored with a donation to the “Natt Campbell/Jack Mutchler Memorial Scholarship”, c/o Monroe-Chester Sportsmen Club, PO Box 624, Monroe, NY 10949; or to Detachment 249, Marine Corps League, 30 Lawrence Avenue, New Windsor, NY 12553.

Arrangements have been entrusted to ssqfuneralhome.com⁠, 117 Maple Ave., Monroe, NY, (845) 782-8185.