Born in Darby, Pennsylvania, and raised in the Philadelphia area, Wes, as he was known to family and friends, earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Villanova University. He worked in the legal, real estate, and financial fields and spent thirteen years as an editor at TV Guide magazine in Radnor, PA, before moving to Florida and embarking on a career as a writer. He wrote a memoir, When I Grow Up I Want To Be Kenneth Tobey! and five travel books: Destinations: Café Hours, Thrilling Cities, Too, Destinations: Ship Leaves Harbor, Flaneur in a Porkpie Hat and The Empires Tour. 

Travel was his passion. He described himself as a flaneur (a wanderer and observer) and loved to wear a porkpie hat. His favorite travel companions were his wife Connie and his daughter Stephanie. 

It was while traveling by train between Wilmington, Delaware and Philadelphia while attending Archmere Academy as a shy 14-year old that he first met Connie Schenker, the love of his life. The two lost touch and married other people but reconnected in 2001 and became husband and wife in 2005. 

Wes satisfied his wanderlust by traveling throughout Europe and to Hawaii and Iceland, chronicling his adventures while fighting a debilitating illness in his 60s. 

He refused to allow his health or his age to hold him back, writing, in his novel, Ship Leaves Harbor, “Old men do not dream of running with the bulls in Pamplona, nor of hiking to the top of Diamond Head in Hawaii nor of scuba diving along the Great Barrier Reef. I still want to walk the Camino de Santiago through the Pyrenees and along the north of Spain; I want to sail the craggy coast of the Algarve in Portugal.” 

Wes accomplished much of what he dreamed of doing and he did it with gusto. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends. 

He is survived by his wife Connie Mullen; children Stephanie Mullen, Deirdra (Steve) Bull and Michael (Latara Clements) O’Donnell; grandchildren Michael O’Donnell Jr., Sophia O’Donnell, Wally O’Donnell, Kelsey Henshall, Lauren Henshall and Paul Henshall; great grandchildren Aria Martin and Kia Grayson Martin; his father Wesley S. Mullen; sister Carol (Larry) Schnepp; sister-in-law Jennifer (Stephane) Schenker Beder and nieces and nephews Larry David Schnepp, Lisa DeVuono, Bill DeVuono (children: Dante, Lucia, Aubrey), Marc Schnepp, Katrina Schnepp (children Addilyn, Wesley), Meredith Derkack, Justin Derkack (children: Grey, Wynn), Sasha Beder, Jordan Beder, Chaya Beder.
He was preceded in death by his mother Marie S. Mullen and his sister-in-law Laurie Schenker Polleck. 

At his request there will be no memorial service. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Messages of condolence can be sent to the website.

Link to donations: https://fundraising.stjude.org/site/TR/GiftFunds/GiftFunds?px=7271047&pg=personal&fr_id=39300

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