A Whittier couple whose lives span more than a century — from World War II service to an 80-year marriage — will be honored Wednesday at a celebration recognizing their enduring legacy.
Mel and Jennifer McMullen, who are 101 and 100 years old, respectively, will be recognized during a spring gathering Wednesday at the retirement community of Oakmont of Whittier, according to organizers.
Jennifer McMullen worked the graveyard shift at Lockheed Aircraft during World War II as part of an all-female workforce supporting military aviation projects, including development of the XP-58 Chain Lightning fighter plane.
“I was proud to contribute to the war effort, knowing my two brothers were serving on the front lines,” Jennifer McMullen said in a statement. “The day it ended, I found myself in the heart of Los Angeles, swept up in a wave of celebration surrounded by the very scenes of joy and unity you see immortalized in history. It was a moment of pure triumph and one I’ll never forget.”
Her husband served as a B-24 gunner in the U.S. Army Air Corps and was part of the famed “Flying Tigers,” the American volunteer air group that assisted China during the war. He was recently honored in China for his service as part of that historic alliance, organizers said.
When Mel McMullen returned from the war, his first meeting with his future wife came by chance at a family home in Los Angeles, where rooms had been rented to young women working during the wartime years.
She was living there at the time with a friend, and the encounter marked the beginning of their relationship.
“I was on my way home from China,” Mel McMullen recalled in an interview last year with the Southern California News Group. “I had my duffel bag in my hand. I open the door and saw Jennifer. I’d heard about her and I was very much interested in what I saw.”
A family connection helped bring the two together, as McMullen’s brother had already met her and suggested they would be a good match.
“And we have been good together ever since,” she said.
The couple married in 1946 and later made their home in Whittier, where they raised three sons and became active in community and family life.
Their involvement included youth organizations, civic groups and veteran associations connected to their wartime experiences.
Mel McMullen built a career in the title insurance field, while his wife worked as an analyst at Cal State San Bernardino before both retired in the 1990s.
In retirement, they spent years traveling extensively, visiting destinations across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the South Pacific.
Jennifer McMullen credited their lasting relationship to shared interests and a sense of humor developed over decades together.
“We travel, we read, we argue,” she said in an interview last year. “I like to win but I don’t do it often.”
“Just being together, that’s my favorite thing. You can’t beat that,” Mel McMullen said.