Muriel McCallum, 94, a 47-year resident of Philipstown who for more than two decades owned a car dealership in Fishkill with her family, died on Sept. 10.
Affectionately known as “Moo,” she was born on Oct. 6, 1925, the daughter of Philip and Alice (Miller) Martin in Stamford, Connecticut. She was a 1943 graduate of Stamford High School and went on to graduate from Short’s Secretarial School. She was secretary to former Stamford Mayor Charles Moore and worked at the firm Moore and Epifanio.
On June 11, 1950, in Stamford, Muriel married John McCallum, who died in 1992. Together with her husband and her daughter and son-in-law, she owned and operated McCallum Chevrolet-Pontiac-Buick in Fishkill for 27 years. She was one of the first female automobile dealers and was a member of New York State Automobile Dealers’ Association.
Muriel taught Sunday School, was a Cub Scout den mother, Girl Scout leader and, after retirement, a literacy volunteer. Her lifelong love of playing cards started with her standing at her parents’ tableside, her family said.
She is survived by her children, Peter McCallum (Carroll) of New Canaan, Connecticut, and Cynthia D’Amato (Anthony) of Hopewell Junction. She also is survived by her grandchildren John (Jack) McCallum of Redondo Beach, California, and Catalina McCallum (Gregg Larkin) of San Francisco, as well as her sister, Audrey Balassie of Bennington, Vermont.
Memorial donations can be made to the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley.
