John Scott “Jack” Muller Sr. passed away peacefully on August 25, 2025, at the age of 82.
He was born in Philadelphia, Pa., to his parents Edward and Matilda Muller. His older brother Eddie preceded him in death.
Jack is survived by his wife Sarah “Peggy” Muller, three children and eight grandchildren: Scott Muller (Stacy) and Avery, Laney and Darcy; Beth Muller Capecchi (Remo) and Brogan, Cullie and “Brynne”; and Stephen Muller (Courtney) and Lyla and Alexis.
In 1964, Jack received a bachelor's degree at Covenant College’s prior location in St. Louis, Mo. He completed his master’s degree in Divinity at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pa., served as a youth pastor in Greenville, S.C., and then earned a Ph.D. in Sociology at Florida State University.
He and wife Peggy moved to Lookout Mountain, Ga., in 1971. Here Jack taught sociology as a professor at Covenant College until 2017. Classes included marriage and the family, crime and delinquency, as well as counseling and sociology. During his early teaching years, he co-taught some courses with his wife Peggy, also a licensed marriage and family therapist, and team-taught a marriage and family counseling course with his daughter Beth, also a Ph.D. Jack cherished these years working with students, faculty and staff.
During the early 1980s, he and Peggy produced “The Heart of the Family,” a video series focusing on helping families communicate, spend time together and develop strong bonds. They traveled around the country showing this video and speaking at churches. He won Covenant College’s Iron Thistle Award, which is awarded to the alumnus of the year, in 1987.
In 2014, he helped Peggy, Beth and Stephen establish a counseling practice called Grounded Counseling in a beautiful old house in North Chattanooga and helped with many developments during its foundational years.
Jack was his children’s and grandchildren’s biggest cheerleader. When his children were young, he loved having summers off to travel and play every sport with them. He rarely missed an event. When he and Peggy became grandparents, they babysat, did drop-offs at school or Mother’s Day, visited Rock City, and hosted slumber parties (complete with his famous scrambled eggs and pancakes). Lovingly called “Poppy” by his grandchildren, Jack told legendary stories and taught them about God and His love for them. He thoroughly enjoyed having his youngest grandchildren at church with him the last two years of his life.
Besides family and teaching people, Jack’s driving forces in life included loving and serving his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Knowing he could never repay God for the gift of salvation, Jack served Him by using his gifts to do His will. Until his last breath, he gave his all to glorify God, share the Gospel and love his neighbors. Jack served Lookout Mountain Presbyterian Church as an elder, taught Sunday school and vacation Bible school and volunteered for Child Evangelism Fellowship. He became a mentor for prisoners through Metanoia Prison Ministries and continued to lead a men’s group at the Thrive at Brow Wood assisted living facility. Jack was active through July of 2025.
Although his life was modest, humble and simple, it was incredibly rich because he cared most about things that are eternal.
On Aug. 31, the Lookout Mountain Presbyterian Church will host visitation with family from 3-5 p.m. and the memorial service afterwards at 5 p.m. A livestream of the memorial service can be viewed at: https://vimeo.com/event/5339836.Immediate family attended a private burial service.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Covenant College’s Jack Muller Memorial Scholarship Fund or Metanoia Prison Ministries.