Philanthropist. President of the G. C. Murphy Company, a prominent variety-store chain during the early 20th century. He was the son of a farmer from Brush Valley, Pennsylvania and educated in the public schools of Indiana County, Pennsylvania. Mack Married Margaret Gordon. They had at least one son named John Sephus Mack, Jr. Mack and Walter C. Shaw purchased G. C. Murphy Co., McKeesport, Pennsylvania, which owned about a dozen "five and dime" stores near Pittsburgh. At one point, the Murphy Company was the third-largest variety-store chain in the country. Mack was a devout Presbyterian who decorated the main assembly room of the Murphy Company with Bible verses. He served on the organizing committee for a 1927 Dr. Bob Jones Sr. revival campaign in Pennsylvania. Mack was a significant contributor to Bob Jones College during the Depression—when Murphy Stores were actually expanding—and he underwrote major building projects on the Cleveland campus. Mack also gave business advice to Bob Jones, Sr. and "Lefty" Johnson before his death in 1940. J.S. Mack told Dr. Jones to "construct your buildings and send me the bill." To express their appreciation, the Board of Trustees awarded him an honorary degree of Doctor of Philanthropy and named the library in his honor. A women's residence hall at Bob Jones College was named for his wife. J. S. Mack was only 60 when he died after a stroke. Four colleges sent their choirs, and Dr. Bob Jones Sr. preached the funeral. Mack was buried in Indiana County's Greenwood Cemetery.
Philanthropist. President of the G. C. Murphy Company, a prominent variety-store chain during the early 20th century. He was the son of a farmer from Brush Valley, Pennsylvania and educated in the public schools of Indiana County, Pennsylvania. Mack Married Margaret Gordon. They had at least one son named John Sephus Mack, Jr. Mack and Walter C. Shaw purchased G. C. Murphy Co., McKeesport, Pennsylvania, which owned about a dozen "five and dime" stores near Pittsburgh. At one point, the Murphy Company was the third-largest variety-store chain in the country. Mack was a devout Presbyterian who decorated the main assembly room of the Murphy Company with Bible verses. He served on the organizing committee for a 1927 Dr. Bob Jones Sr. revival campaign in Pennsylvania. Mack was a significant contributor to Bob Jones College during the Depression—when Murphy Stores were actually expanding—and he underwrote major building projects on the Cleveland campus. Mack also gave business advice to Bob Jones, Sr. and "Lefty" Johnson before his death in 1940. J.S. Mack told Dr. Jones to "construct your buildings and send me the bill." To express their appreciation, the Board of Trustees awarded him an honorary degree of Doctor of Philanthropy and named the library in his honor. A women's residence hall at Bob Jones College was named for his wife. J. S. Mack was only 60 when he died after a stroke. Four colleges sent their choirs, and Dr. Bob Jones Sr. preached the funeral. Mack was buried in Indiana County's Greenwood Cemetery.
