City building inspector was also pastor

Picking up from last week, Rev. H. L. Mullenax, Nazarene pastor, had come to McCook in 1953. Then, as it probably still is now, pastoral work fed the souls, but it didn’t always feed the family of the pastor and to that end, Mullenax was also the McCook City Building Inspector.

From the February 10, 1954, McCook Daily Gazette recounting what had taken place at the end of 1953: “Good Turn for Elderly Couple Part of Role: A dual life as a building inspector and a minister has led to some ‘good neighbor’ aid for two elderly persons and to a ‘good turn’ for a McCook church. The Rev. H. L. Mullenax , pastor Nazarene Church and city building inspector, was making a routine check of Jim Brock’s home one rainy day last year. That’s how he happened to learn the roof over the room Mrs. Minnie Rogel boarded in leaked and the floor under her ‘had long since rotted away’. It seems there had been a fire some time back and the remaining wiring had been condemned, Mr. Mullenax said. I was inspecting new wiring and that’s how I discovered the poor conditions. I asked Minnie why the home had no heat, food or adequate clothing, and she told me. It seems Jim had been sick for several months. He’s an excellent watch and gun repairman, but couldn’t work, she told me. Savings were running low.”

“Mullenax discussed the situation with his church and members decided to ‘do something about it’. I had rejected the new wiring as being below standard, Mullenax the inspector said, so the first thing we did was re-wire the three room house. Then we went to Sampson Siding and Roofing Co., for a new roof. When we explained our project, the company donated the necessary materials. Jim (Brock) was really encouraged and feeling a lot better, helped put on the roof. McCook Hollowstone Co. gave us a big discount on a concrete floor and Lee Carter let us have a glass front door and hardware for just the price of the hardware. Rev. Mullenax said Jim and Minnie thank everyone. Minnie clapped her hands and cried when we brought a used davenport and chair Christmas Eve. The chair held a complete Christmas dinner. When the weather is better, we’ll finish fixing up the house.”

End of story? Not quite, because in March of 1954, Rev. Mullenax was awakened by the smell of smoke in his own house at 1001 East C Street and as he hurried to carry his children, ages 9 to 4 months to safety at a neighbor’s home, his wife called the fire department. While the home proper was saved, the contents were damaged by smoke and water, the rear porch and kitchen walls extensively damaged leading to the assessment that they would not be able to return to the house until repairs were made. Rev. Mullenax had done another good deed prior to his losing his home by purchasing clothing for Kenny Patton’s children when their home north of the drive in theater had burned to the ground.

The generosity of the good minister was returned to him when friends and family worked each evening to help repair his home. Gifts of money and clothing for the five children of the minister and his wife were received and while the home was being rebuilt, Rev. Hawthorne of the American Sunday School Union loaned the use of a house trailer at 1102 West 10th for them to live in.

Rev. Mullenax was listed as the pastor for the Church of the Nazarene on October 29, 1954, but in the next issue featuring church schedules S. V. Morgan had taken his place. Did the family remain in McCook past that time is a question I have not answered yet, but it appears to me that whatever community the good reverend lived in must have benefited from this man of action.