Barbara Mullen, born July 16, 1923 Honolulu, HI, passed peacefully in Laguna Niguel on Sunday July 31 2022.  She was called Bee by her friends, and Queen Bee or Grandma Bee by family members.  She was Dr. Bee to the staff members of her senior residence home.  Born to Gus and Irene Brady, she was an only child.  They moved to the San Francisco Bay Area when she was very young.  One of her favorite things to do was horseback riding with her dad.

Bee received her bachelor's degree from University of California Berkely.  She was accepted to medical school at University of California San Francisco.  There she met her classmate, Raymond Mullen, who became the love of her life.  They were married June 19, 1947, which was graduation day.  The story is that all their classmates attended their wedding instead of the graduation ceremony.

Bee was a pioneer, being one of the rare female physicians at the time.  She was a pediatrician working initially in Riverside School Districts and later at the UC Riverside Student Health Center until she retired at age 70.  She is survived by her sons Stephen and Michael, and daughter Janet; 5 grandchildren: Christopher, Megan, Cara, Patrick, and Caitlin; 8 great grandchildren: Adeline, Talia, Rosalie, Zachary, Ozzie, Connor, Samuel, and Landon; her sister-in-law, Sandy; nephews Matt and Tod; and niece, Bree.  Her husband Ray passed in 2018.

Bee worked an academic calendar and so had summers off.  She spent these summers in Carlsbad, at the beach.  There she did interesting activities with her children like making sandcastles, seashell necklaces and other art projects.  She instituted the Mullen Family Fishing Derby, open between Memorial Day and Labor Day for surf fishing.  It was a competition for who could catch the 1 ^st fish, biggest fish, most fish and so on.  Bee did not fish, but she was the Chief Judge and always noted that bribes were cheerfully accepted.  Fishing Derby was a way to keep kids busy during the summer and is now in its 64 ^th year.

Dr Bee was an astute diagnostician so her children could never get away with faking an illness to stay home from school.  Besides loving taking care of her patients/students at UCR, she also loved to paint, filling her home with original paintings of her favorite places.  Bee loved horses and was able to ride her horse, Cinny, until the horse was too old, and Bee was 80.  Bee and Ray were avid travelers.  Visiting Hana, Maui was an annual destination, and they renewed their wedding vows there on their 50 ^th anniversary with all their children and grandchild present.  Ireland was also a frequent destination because they loved the people.  Bee also initiated the big family get-together during Thanksgiving so that all her grandchildren could get to know one another, whether they lived in California, Massachusetts, or Indiana.  The responsibility for hosting the multiple day event rotated between east vs west coast, but Bee and Ray always paid for all travel expenses.  Her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren trekked to Laguna Niguel to be with her for her 99 ^th birthday party just two weeks before she passed.

A funeral mass will be held Wednesday, September 7, 10:00 at Corpus Christi Catholic Church, 27231 Aliso Viejo Parkway, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656.  Bee will be laid to rest at Riverside National Cemetery with Ray.