william mulligan
William G. “Bill” Mulligan of Doylestown, Pennsylvania and Naples, Florida was born to Marion (Goeckel) Mulligan and Eugene W. Mulligan of Kingston, Pennsylvania on August 5, 1930. After graduating from Kingston High School in 1948, he went on to Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania where he earned a BS in Mining Engineering.
Upon graduation, Mulligan began a career of 43 years with Ingersoll-Rand Company, reaching the office of executive vice president. Along with his position at Ingersoll-Rand, Mulligan participated in several outside associations. He served on the board of directors of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), earning the title of AEM Life Honorary Director and induction into the AEM Hall of Fame in 1994. Mulligan was chairman of the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, International Road Foundation, and the American Mining Congress’ Manufacturers Division. Mulligan retired in 1995, but continued with his "second career" in harness racing.
Bill Mulligan had a lifelong interest in horses, having been introduced to them early on by his father. In 1965 he founded Pennsylvania’s Marion Farms, a prominent breeding and boarding facility of Standardbred racehorses such as Party Party 4,1:54.3 ($190,144), Spellbound Hanover 3,1:54.3 ($962,395) and 2016 Triple Crown winner Marion Marauder 7,1:50.2 ($3,392,609). Mulligan owned nearly 300 horses in his career and was the breeder of more than 200.
Spellbound Hanover was the Nova Award winner as the top two-year-old trotting filly in 2000. Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Popfinger, she captured the $346,000 Merrie Annabelle and the $131,325 Matron that year. She is the dam of Marion Marauder, bred by Mulligan.
Mulligan participated in amateur driving, receiving the 2003 Amateur Driver of the Year Award from the Monticello-Goshen Chapter of the United States Harness Writers Association.
He was on the board of trustees of the Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame in later years, becoming trustee emeritus in 2014. The culmination of Bill's racing interests came with Marion Marauder’s 2016 Triple Crown title and his Pennsylvania Breeder of the Year award by the United States Harness Writers Association in the same year.
William G. Mulligan passed away at home in Pennsylvania on December 19, 2017 at the age of 87.