Muller led Big Brothers program

Counseling, mentoring, teaching and helping others were lifelong passions for Christof “Chris” Muller, the first executive director of the Omaha-area Big Brothers mentoring program and a retired social work professor at Chadron State College.

Muller died Saturday at the Papillion Manor nursing home after battling bone cancer, his son, Chris Muller III of Omaha, said. He was 79.

Services will be 11 a.m. Thursday at the Heafey-Heafey-Hoffmann-Dworak-Cutler West Center Chapel at 7805 West Center Road.

Muller, a Pierce, Neb., native, studied teaching at Wayne State College until the Korean War broke out. He enlisted in the Navy for four years.

Muller returned to Wayne State after the war and became a dorm counselor for 25 freshmen. The experience led him into social work, according to his wife, Mabel Muller. He went on to earn a master’s degree in social work at Washington University in St. Louis, where he met his bride, who also studied social work.

The two worked for Lutheran Family Services in Omaha after graduation. Three years later, Chris Muller accepted the Big Brothers position and stayed for 11 years before moving to Chadron to coordinate mental health services in the area. After working at that job for 10 years, Muller joined his wife at Chadron State, where she was director of a tutoring program. They both retired 10 years later and lived in Mesa, Ariz. They returned to Omaha last June.

Muller’s survivors also include his daughter Robbin Muller of San Diego; son, Jeff Muller of Denver; and five grandchildren.

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