3rd-generation Tri-Cities funeral home owner had a heart for veterans
Jay Mueller was a man of many talents and interests.
Together with his sister, he was the third generation of the Mueller family to lead the Tri-Cities funeral home that bears their name.
Mueller died May 28 in Kennewick. He was 80 and had called the Tri-Cities home for much of his life.
The family business was just one of his many accomplishments.
He prioritized family and as a young man, built their first home himself after learning how to do it from a library book.
He was a devoted alum of both Kennewick High School and Brigham Young University.
He was a band booster, music lover, philanthropist, genealogist and girl dad who made sure his daughters knew how to mow lawns and use power tools, according to his obituary published by the family business.
Mueller enlisted in the Air Force in 1967, the same year he joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served in leadership and mission roles throughout his life.
Mueller was born in Pasco and returned to the Tri-Cities in 1974 to join the funeral business his grandfather, I.N. Mueller, established in 1910.
Before signing on, he added a mortuary science degree from Mt. Hood Community College in Oregon to his bachelor’s in business management from BYU.
Mueller and his sister, Gail Riddell, became owners of Mueller’s Funeral Homes and Desert Lawn Memorial Park in the early ‘80s when their father retired.
They acquired Greenlee Funeral Home in Pasco a few years later and completed the new Mueller’s Greenlee Funeral Home facility soon after.
He brought a heart for his fellow military veterans and their families. He provided free burial rights in the section of Desert Lawn dedicated to veterans.
That helped bereaved families avoid long drives to the state’s existing military cemeteries, which are near Seattle and in Medical Lake.
Mueller’s daughter and son-in-law, Amy and Kent Coffman, and Riddell’s son, Chad Riddell, became the fourth-generation owners when they took over operations in 2012.
He is survived by his wife, Charlene, as well as his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and extended family.
Services include a visitation from 4-8 p.m., June 19, at Muller’s Tri-Cities Funeral Home, 1401 S. Union St., Kennewick, and funeral services at 1 pm., June 20, at the LDS Kennewick East Stake Center, 515 S. Union.
He will be interred with military honors at Desert Lawn Memorial Park.