PAPER PIONEER
One of the founding fathers of Journal Pioneer dies at 93
Founding father of Journal Pioneer remembered for his devotion.
One of the founding pioneers of the Summerside Journal has died.
John “Jock” Mungall, died on July 21 at age 93.
Born and educated in Glasgow, Scotland, Mungall worked for the finance department for the city of Glasgow prior to the Second World War.
Following the outbreak of conflict, he trained as a navigator in the Royal Air Force, receiving his wings and commission at the Air Navigation School in Summerside.
While in Summerside he met his future wife, Edith Dye.
After the war, he returned to the Island and married.
“Mom and Dad were so in love,” said Mungall’s daughter, Edith French.
“We used to live across the street from Wanda Wyatt. We had this big house that used to be a boarding house. Mom and Dad would always take walks in the garden when he was home for lunch. They always sealed their walk with a kiss. So, Barbara, Diane (my sisters) and I would be in the house with our eyes covered yelling ‘oh heav- ens our parents are necking on Central Street!’” French said with
a hearty laugh.
Mungall began working for the Journal Publishing company in 1948.
In a transcript of interview notes from 2015, Mungall explained how he got the job at the Journal.
He said people had cautioned him against going to the Summerside Journal for a job after it suffered a fire and was in bad financial shape.
“I got a telephone call from Arthur R. Brennan, who identified himself as publisher of the Journal. I told him I was still an officer in the Royal Air Force on leave and I had nothing to say to them for publication.”
But Brennan had called in regard to a position Mungall had applied for.
The only catch was that he hadn’t applied for any position.
When Mungall went in for a job interview, the receptionist “looked like she’d seen a ghost.”
“She later apologized to me and told me she was shaken when I showed up as I wasn’t who she was expecting to see. She showed me into Mr. Brennan’s office and introduced me.
“He stared at me and immediately said ‘you are not the person I expected to meet.’”
“‘I told you so,’ I think I said. To this day I never discovered the true facts nor resolved who applied to the Journal on my behalf.”
Recalling the story, Barbara Reed, another of Mungall’s daughters, smiled.
“Dad loved the paper. He was the boss, as everyone called him. He would work all day, come home and then often come back
to work at the end of the day. “One time there was an issue with the printing press, so he rolled up his sleeves and got right in there,” Reed said as her eyes welled with tears.
Mungall was also the driving force behind uniting the Summerside Journal and The Pioneer.
“Many people don’t know it, but Dad actually owned half of the Journal Pioneer. He never ever told people. He would tell people he was the executive manager or the publisher. But he was much more.”
Mungall seemed to have an egg in every basket over his lifetime.
“He was one of the founding members of the Royal Canadian Air Force Association #200 Wing in Summerside. He went to the Wing every night. It wasn’t only his vice, but it was also his way to relax,” said Reed.
There is no denying Mungall left an indelible mark on the Summerside community, read family friend George Lyle during Mungall’s eulogy.
Reed and French agreed. “Dad was a brilliant man, generous with his time and efforts, who devoted himself completely to his family and the Island he loved.”