Alana Moynahan Rosshirt

Alana Rosshirt, who lived on four continents, traveled in 50 countries, and loved Austin best, died January 16 at home from cancer. She was 75. She faced death with grace and humor, at one point telling her son, "I just tore up my dentist's notice; there are positive aspects to everything!" She was born in 1933 in Chicago, Ill., the first child of John D. Moynahan and Helen Hurley Moynahan. She grew up in LaGrange, Ill., and attended Saint Francis Xavier Grade School and Trinity High School. She graduated from Saint Mary's College in Notre Dame, Ind. She earned a B.A. in theology and journalism in 1955 and became editor of The Courier, the Saint Mary's College Alumnae Magazine. She later served as President of the Saint Mary's College's Alumnae Association and a member of the Board of Regents. At the close of her tenure, the Board's resolution read, "Her zeal for the rights and recognition of women commands not an audience, but a following." In 1957, she married Jack Rosshirt, a graduate of Notre Dame and Notre Dame Law School. During Jack's two years in Army intelligence, they lived in Dundalk, Md., and Pasadena, Calif., and then settled back in Alana's hometown of LaGrange. They had five boys. On the birth of the fifth son in 1966, the Chicago Sunday Tribune ran a photo of the mother and the brothers along with an article by Alana titled, "Time for a Girl? Please Don't Ask That Question!" The family lived in Tehran, Iran from 1970 to1973, departing six years before the revolution. Jack worked as an attorney for Amoco Iran, and the boys attended Tehran International School, where Alana was a substitute teacher of journalism and English. She taught catechism at Saint Abraham's Parish, a Catholic Church in downtown Tehran. She also was co-editor of an American Women's Club booklet called Guide to Iran, which included advice on how to cope in a new country and a language section on basic Farsi. She and Jack later lived in Nairobi and Copenhagen, where Jack headed Amoco operations. In Nairobi, Alana was Council Member on the National Museums of Kenya Society and was a passionate supporter of the country's game parks. In Copenhagen, she was executive committee member of the American Women's Club. The family lived in Houston from 1978 to 87, where Alana was publicity assistant and later subscriptions assistant for Houston Grand Opera. She was also a moderator and Houston Chapter Representative for Smokenders, a smoking cessation program, after successfully completing the program herself in 1977. Her fourth son, Matthew, died of AIDS in 1986, which made her a life-long supporter of Hospice. Alana and Jack moved to Austin when Jack retired in 1992. Her volunteer work here included serving as Chairman of UT Lamp, as well as curriculum chair and editor of the group's newsletter. She also volunteered with CASA as a court-appointed advocate for abused and neglected children. She continued that work until her failing eyesight kept her from driving. Alana loved going to the opera, reading books, telling stories, and talking to friends. She was an adventurous traveler who went on camel safaris, took balloon rides in the Serengeti, journeyed through Somalia, Zimbabwe, and Burundi, and made opera trips to Russia. On several occasions, she flew to see her children in Europe and Asia – then left them to go off traveling alone. Above all, Alana was a spiritual seeker with a passion for social justice. Her quest for the sacred ran beyond the bounds of any religion, though she cherished the Catholic Church for its social teaching and its ideal of heroic virtue. In addition to studying Catholic Theology in the 1950s, she took courses in Islam at Tehran University in the 1970s, and made silent retreats with a noted Indian teacher of meditation in the 1980s. She believed that members of all religions begin their quest from different places on the base of a pyramid – and come closer to each other as they rise nearer to God. She is survived by her husband Jack, her sons John, Tom, Dave, and Dan, eight grandchildren, and her brother John D. Moynahan, Jr. The family will receive friends on Tuesday, January 20, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home 3125 North Lamar Boulevard in Austin. Memorial Services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, January 24, at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin 4700 Grover Avenue, Austin. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Hospice Austin, 4107 Spicewood Springs Road, Austin 78759, and Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556.