General works manager of 24,000 employees at the Wisconsin manufacturing operations of the American Motors Corporation.
Born on George Washington's birthday, Joe Mueller was the son of the late Fred and Theresa (Volk) Mueller, and was educated at the Holy Ghost Elementary School and South Division High School of Milwaukee (he quit after the third year), and subsequently six years at the Milwaukee Vocational School in plumbing, mathematics and other practical courses starting at age 28. He never finished high school; during those years his family had encountered difficult times and he took odd jobs to earn money.
Joe Mueller's original ambition was to be a big-league baseball pitcher, but he enrolled in Wisconsin's apprenticeship training program with drafting as his objective, and the industrial commission which conducts the program assigned him to the Nash Motors Company at eighteen cents an hour, which started his career in the automobile industry.
That four-year apprenticeship took five years to complete because of the Great Depression.
Specializing in tool design, he became a Nash layout engineer in 1937 and the leader of a team assigned to expanding production in the large Kenosha facility. Production doubled, and the members of the team were marked for promotions. By 1940 he was transferred to the Seaman Body Company in Milwaukee as chief draftsman, his first title. Simultaneously he earned an engineering degree studying evening courses at the Milwaukee Vocational School over five years, and then he was transferred back to Kenosha as Nash-Kelvinator's plant engineer in Kenosha by 1947. In 1948, he moved to the Grand Rapids, Michigan plant of the Kelvinator Division as the assistant works manager, and was later transferred to Kelvinator's Detroit office, and he was instrumental in the modernization of the Kelvinator facility in Crew, England.
Joe Mueller finally retired as the general works manager of all Wisconsin operations of the American Motors Corporation. He never owned an automobile built by any other company than Nash Motors, Nash-Kelvinator or American Motors Corporation.
On September 28, 1940 he married Bertha L. 'Bert' Scharner, who survived him as did his son Joseph J. (Corinne) of Kenosha, Wisconsin; and daughters Louise A. Kornman of Kenosha and Mary L. (Jim) Della Chiesa of Burr Ridge, Illinois; and seven grandchildren.
Joe Mueller was a member of the St. Mark the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church in Kenosha, where he had once served on the parish board of directors. He was part of the effort to bring the Richard Bong Air Force Base to Kenosha County, which earned him a US Air Force Certificate of Appreciation. His other board directorships included St. Catherine's Hospital in Kenosha, the Kenosha National Bank, and Mount Mary College in Milwaukee, and he held memberships in the Kenosha Elks Lodge No. 750, the Wisconsin Manufacturers Association, the Kenosha Chamber of Commerce, the Kenosha Country Club, the Detroit Engineering Society and the Milwaukee Athletic Club, and he was the chairman of the Kenosha United Way campaign and the Kenosha Manufacturers Association.
At his September 1, 1968 retirement party, former AMC chairman and president George Romney presented him with an oil portrait and a white Ambassador sedan, which Joe promptly named the 'White Stallion'. Joe Mueller died on the thirty-fifth anniversary of his retirement date. Preceding him in death was a brother, Henry Mueller.
The Piasecki-Althaus Funeral Home served the family and friends.
Born on George Washington's birthday, Joe Mueller was the son of the late Fred and Theresa (Volk) Mueller, and was educated at the Holy Ghost Elementary School and South Division High School of Milwaukee (he quit after the third year), and subsequently six years at the Milwaukee Vocational School in plumbing, mathematics and other practical courses starting at age 28. He never finished high school; during those years his family had encountered difficult times and he took odd jobs to earn money.
Joe Mueller's original ambition was to be a big-league baseball pitcher, but he enrolled in Wisconsin's apprenticeship training program with drafting as his objective, and the industrial commission which conducts the program assigned him to the Nash Motors Company at eighteen cents an hour, which started his career in the automobile industry.
That four-year apprenticeship took five years to complete because of the Great Depression.
Specializing in tool design, he became a Nash layout engineer in 1937 and the leader of a team assigned to expanding production in the large Kenosha facility. Production doubled, and the members of the team were marked for promotions. By 1940 he was transferred to the Seaman Body Company in Milwaukee as chief draftsman, his first title. Simultaneously he earned an engineering degree studying evening courses at the Milwaukee Vocational School over five years, and then he was transferred back to Kenosha as Nash-Kelvinator's plant engineer in Kenosha by 1947. In 1948, he moved to the Grand Rapids, Michigan plant of the Kelvinator Division as the assistant works manager, and was later transferred to Kelvinator's Detroit office, and he was instrumental in the modernization of the Kelvinator facility in Crew, England.
Joe Mueller finally retired as the general works manager of all Wisconsin operations of the American Motors Corporation. He never owned an automobile built by any other company than Nash Motors, Nash-Kelvinator or American Motors Corporation.
On September 28, 1940 he married Bertha L. 'Bert' Scharner, who survived him as did his son Joseph J. (Corinne) of Kenosha, Wisconsin; and daughters Louise A. Kornman of Kenosha and Mary L. (Jim) Della Chiesa of Burr Ridge, Illinois; and seven grandchildren.
Joe Mueller was a member of the St. Mark the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church in Kenosha, where he had once served on the parish board of directors. He was part of the effort to bring the Richard Bong Air Force Base to Kenosha County, which earned him a US Air Force Certificate of Appreciation. His other board directorships included St. Catherine's Hospital in Kenosha, the Kenosha National Bank, and Mount Mary College in Milwaukee, and he held memberships in the Kenosha Elks Lodge No. 750, the Wisconsin Manufacturers Association, the Kenosha Chamber of Commerce, the Kenosha Country Club, the Detroit Engineering Society and the Milwaukee Athletic Club, and he was the chairman of the Kenosha United Way campaign and the Kenosha Manufacturers Association.
At his September 1, 1968 retirement party, former AMC chairman and president George Romney presented him with an oil portrait and a white Ambassador sedan, which Joe promptly named the 'White Stallion'. Joe Mueller died on the thirty-fifth anniversary of his retirement date. Preceding him in death was a brother, Henry Mueller.
The Piasecki-Althaus Funeral Home served the family and friends.
General works manager of 24,000 employees at the Wisconsin manufacturing operations of the American Motors Corporation.
Born on George Washington's birthday, Joe Mueller was the son of the late Fred and Theresa (Volk) Mueller, and was educated at the Holy Ghost Elementary School and South Division High School of Milwaukee (he quit after the third year), and subsequently six years at the Milwaukee Vocational School in plumbing, mathematics and other practical courses starting at age 28. He never finished high school; during those years his family had encountered difficult times and he took odd jobs to earn money.
Joe Mueller's original ambition was to be a big-league baseball pitcher, but he enrolled in Wisconsin's apprenticeship training program with drafting as his objective, and the industrial commission which conducts the program assigned him to the Nash Motors Company at eighteen cents an hour, which started his career in the automobile industry.
That four-year apprenticeship took five years to complete because of the Great Depression.
Specializing in tool design, he became a Nash layout engineer in 1937 and the leader of a team assigned to expanding production in the large Kenosha facility. Production doubled, and the members of the team were marked for promotions. By 1940 he was transferred to the Seaman Body Company in Milwaukee as chief draftsman, his first title. Simultaneously he earned an engineering degree studying evening courses at the Milwaukee Vocational School over five years, and then he was transferred back to Kenosha as Nash-Kelvinator's plant engineer in Kenosha by 1947. In 1948, he moved to the Grand Rapids, Michigan plant of the Kelvinator Division as the assistant works manager, and was later transferred to Kelvinator's Detroit office, and he was instrumental in the modernization of the Kelvinator facility in Crew, England.
Joe Mueller finally retired as the general works manager of all Wisconsin operations of the American Motors Corporation. He never owned an automobile built by any other company than Nash Motors, Nash-Kelvinator or American Motors Corporation.
On September 28, 1940 he married Bertha L. 'Bert' Scharner, who survived him as did his son Joseph J. (Corinne) of Kenosha, Wisconsin; and daughters Louise A. Kornman of Kenosha and Mary L. (Jim) Della Chiesa of Burr Ridge, Illinois; and seven grandchildren.
Joe Mueller was a member of the St. Mark the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church in Kenosha, where he had once served on the parish board of directors. He was part of the effort to bring the Richard Bong Air Force Base to Kenosha County, which earned him a US Air Force Certificate of Appreciation. His other board directorships included St. Catherine's Hospital in Kenosha, the Kenosha National Bank, and Mount Mary College in Milwaukee, and he held memberships in the Kenosha Elks Lodge No. 750, the Wisconsin Manufacturers Association, the Kenosha Chamber of Commerce, the Kenosha Country Club, the Detroit Engineering Society and the Milwaukee Athletic Club, and he was the chairman of the Kenosha United Way campaign and the Kenosha Manufacturers Association.
At his September 1, 1968 retirement party, former AMC chairman and president George Romney presented him with an oil portrait and a white Ambassador sedan, which Joe promptly named the 'White Stallion'. Joe Mueller died on the thirty-fifth anniversary of his retirement date. Preceding him in death was a brother, Henry Mueller.
The Piasecki-Althaus Funeral Home served the family and friends.
Born on George Washington's birthday, Joe Mueller was the son of the late Fred and Theresa (Volk) Mueller, and was educated at the Holy Ghost Elementary School and South Division High School of Milwaukee (he quit after the third year), and subsequently six years at the Milwaukee Vocational School in plumbing, mathematics and other practical courses starting at age 28. He never finished high school; during those years his family had encountered difficult times and he took odd jobs to earn money.
Joe Mueller's original ambition was to be a big-league baseball pitcher, but he enrolled in Wisconsin's apprenticeship training program with drafting as his objective, and the industrial commission which conducts the program assigned him to the Nash Motors Company at eighteen cents an hour, which started his career in the automobile industry.
That four-year apprenticeship took five years to complete because of the Great Depression.
Specializing in tool design, he became a Nash layout engineer in 1937 and the leader of a team assigned to expanding production in the large Kenosha facility. Production doubled, and the members of the team were marked for promotions. By 1940 he was transferred to the Seaman Body Company in Milwaukee as chief draftsman, his first title. Simultaneously he earned an engineering degree studying evening courses at the Milwaukee Vocational School over five years, and then he was transferred back to Kenosha as Nash-Kelvinator's plant engineer in Kenosha by 1947. In 1948, he moved to the Grand Rapids, Michigan plant of the Kelvinator Division as the assistant works manager, and was later transferred to Kelvinator's Detroit office, and he was instrumental in the modernization of the Kelvinator facility in Crew, England.
Joe Mueller finally retired as the general works manager of all Wisconsin operations of the American Motors Corporation. He never owned an automobile built by any other company than Nash Motors, Nash-Kelvinator or American Motors Corporation.
On September 28, 1940 he married Bertha L. 'Bert' Scharner, who survived him as did his son Joseph J. (Corinne) of Kenosha, Wisconsin; and daughters Louise A. Kornman of Kenosha and Mary L. (Jim) Della Chiesa of Burr Ridge, Illinois; and seven grandchildren.
Joe Mueller was a member of the St. Mark the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church in Kenosha, where he had once served on the parish board of directors. He was part of the effort to bring the Richard Bong Air Force Base to Kenosha County, which earned him a US Air Force Certificate of Appreciation. His other board directorships included St. Catherine's Hospital in Kenosha, the Kenosha National Bank, and Mount Mary College in Milwaukee, and he held memberships in the Kenosha Elks Lodge No. 750, the Wisconsin Manufacturers Association, the Kenosha Chamber of Commerce, the Kenosha Country Club, the Detroit Engineering Society and the Milwaukee Athletic Club, and he was the chairman of the Kenosha United Way campaign and the Kenosha Manufacturers Association.
At his September 1, 1968 retirement party, former AMC chairman and president George Romney presented him with an oil portrait and a white Ambassador sedan, which Joe promptly named the 'White Stallion'. Joe Mueller died on the thirty-fifth anniversary of his retirement date. Preceding him in death was a brother, Henry Mueller.
The Piasecki-Althaus Funeral Home served the family and friends.
