Obituaries 10/2/19
Teresa Hooban
Our mom, Teresa Hooban, died September 30, surrounded by her children and her dogs, exactly as she would have wanted it.
She was a colorful tapestry of a person with so many woven pieces which made her the person we all knew and treasured in so many different ways.
She was a proud United States Army veteran. She was a semiprofessional cake decorator. She sewed beautiful clothes and dresses — if she finished them. She wanted to go to clown college and be a circus clown. She has, for as long as any of us have known her, had a balloon pump on hand and could actually make balloon animals, and she threw the best birthday parties with those talents. She wanted to be the drummer for Cher, or at least be friends with her. She always had the Lord and Taylor giveaway bags from the makeup counter, and lotions and potions we wouldn’t have ever gotten for ourselves. She danced more at our middle school rec nights than half the kids, and she was a “colorful” substitute CCD teacher.
She loved her home state of Texas with all of her heart and she loved yellow roses, lemon meringue pie, pink coconut Hostess Sno-Balls, and ALL candy. She was oddly devoted to ABC’s entire television programming lineup, and old black-and-white movies.
She drove inappropriately fast, and she let us hang out of the moon roof of the car with our friends, back in the days when you could still do that and be the cool mom for it.
She loved to sing songs in the car, always lagging a full sentence behind the singer, and she didn’t even notice that she was behind them. I think the fact that Matthew and I sang was her gift to us. Johnna, Matt, and I all know HER songs. I’m not sure what WASN’T her song. She said she’d send us butterflies but I think she will send all of us songs.
She always wanted some giant fun or different thing for her life and was always looking for it. Maybe she didn’t realize that she’d given and had that fun.
Her joy came from us as her kids and she did her best in all the ways she knew to give the most to all of us.
She adored her grandchildren: Melanie’s children, Jack Hooban, Whitney, Vivian, Nina, and Sloane McWilliams; Matthew and Allison’s children, Beatrice and Sawyer Hooban; and Johnna and David’s children, Nolan and Cara Roberts. She was devoted to her brother, Raoul Trujillo, and to her sister, Alice Donhardt. Beyond them, she treasured her dogs, Diesel, Oliver, and Mia and her deceased pets, Tyler, Kramer, and Rosie. She leaves behind nieces, nephews, and so many friends and family from Texas to California, Nebraska to Wisconsin, to Germany. They couldn’t possibly all be named.
She died in our hands on the morning of September 30, and she waited for us to all be here.
As with everyone who leaves us in life, we have different interpretations of what they were to us and how we remember them. We’d love each and every person who remembers our mother to please remember her in the best way you can, and to send a thought to the heavens today, because she deserves more in her memory than anyone could imagine.
In lieu of flowers, please send donations in her honor to the ASPCA (aspca.org) and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (mmrf.org).
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Elizabeth Reilly Moynahan
Elizabeth Reilly Moynahan, a lifelong architect who graduated from Radcliffe College and the Harvard School of Design in 1952 as one of only three women in her class, died September 23, 2019, age 94.
She was born on D-Day, June 6, 1925 in Boston, MA. She married Julian Lane Moynahan in Cambridge, MA, August 6, 1946. Her children were Catherine Maria, 1951; Brigid Elizabeth, 1954; and Mary Ellen (Molly), 1957. Elizabeth graduated from Girl’s Latin School in Boston, Radcliffe College AB 1946, Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, B. Arch, M. Arch 1952.
Liz, as she was known by friends and colleagues, managed to have a long and illustrious career as an architect while raising a family and sustaining a marriage of 68 years with the man she called “the love of her life,” her deceased husband, Julian Lane Moynahan, Distinguished Professor of English, poet, novelist, and literary critic.
Her work included corporate office buildings, houses, schools, community buildings, housing for the elderly, barrier-free designs, a college library, and the compound for The Institute for Women’s Leadership located on the Douglass campus of Rutgers University. In Princeton, she remodeled a section of the Princeton University Library and the Institute for Advanced Study, a pioneering design for solar housing as early as the 1970s. Elizabeth was active in historic preservation restoring, among others, the Albert Einstein House. As committed advocate for affordable housing, she was instrumental in creating Architects Housing, Eggerts Crossing Village Community Building and Offices in New Jersey. Her architecture and renovations included buildings in London, Dublin, and many houses on Cape Cod.
She was a gifted teacher, serving as a visiting professor of Architecture at the University of Utah, Louisiana State University, Rutgers University, and visiting critic at the Bartlett School, London. Her service to the New Jersey State Board of Architects included serving as commissioner for six years and president for one. She was secretary and treasurer to the Central Chapter AIA of the New Jersey Society of Architects and selected to serve on a six-member steering Committee for Historic Resources.
In addition to her professional accomplishments Liz was a mother to three daughters, an active feminist, and supporter of Civil Rights who campaigned for Shirley Chisholm and Geraldine Ferraro. A devoted mentor to young men and women pursuing architecture, she generously donated her time to judging design projects in local high schools. She was an accomplished gardener and cook who taught her daughters and grandchildren how to bake bread, make pesto, and eschew processed food. Each birthday featured a delicious and creative birthday cake, with a detailed Irish Cottage one of the most impressive. Her sewing projects were extensive, featuring Liberty prints and Irish tweed, creating unique and beautiful outfits for herself and her children.
An avid reader, a wonderful grandmother, and a mother who inspired and cherished her three daughters, she felt strongly about human rights and civil liberties and, along with her husband, gave generously to charity and liberal causes. An excellent storyteller and great conversationalist, she will be remembered for her wit, intelligence, strength, and empathy. Memorable anecdotes included her waltzing with the writer James Baldwin, and serving as a “Rosie the Riveter” during WWII, welding in an airplane factory as part of the war effort.
Elizabeth was predeceased by her beloved husband Julian Lane Moynahan and eldest daughter, Catherine (husband, Beckman Rich), and is survived by daughters, Brigid Elizabeth Moynahan (husband, Ray Clarke) and ( Molly ) Mary Ellen Moynahan (husband, Timothy Goodrich); four grandchildren, Henry Moynahan Rich, Julian Brizzi, Lucia Brizzi, and Lucas Moynahan Helliker; and two great-grandchildren, Charles and Jack Brizzi. There will be a memorial service held in Princeton, New Jersey, April 2020.
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Elizabeth Reilly Moynahan
Elizabeth Reilly Moynahan, a lifelong architect who graduated from Radcliffe College and the Harvard School of Design in 1952 as one of only three women in her class, died September 23, 2019, age 94.
She was born on D-Day, June 6, 1925 in Boston, MA. She married Julian Lane Moynahan in Cambridge, MA, August 6, 1946. Her children were Catherine Maria, 1951; Brigid Elizabeth, 1954; and Mary Ellen (Molly), 1957. Elizabeth graduated from Girl’s Latin School in Boston, Radcliffe College AB 1946, Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, B. Arch, M. Arch 1952.
Liz, as she was known by friends and colleagues, managed to have a long and illustrious career as an architect while raising a family and sustaining a marriage of 68 years with the man she called “the love of her life,” her deceased husband, Julian Lane Moynahan, Distinguished Professor of English, poet, novelist, and literary critic.
Her work included corporate office buildings, houses, schools, community buildings, housing for the elderly, barrier-free designs, a college library, and the compound for The Institute for Women’s Leadership located on the Douglass campus of Rutgers University. In Princeton, she remodeled a section of the Princeton University Library and the Institute for Advanced Study, a pioneering design for solar housing as early as the 1970s. Elizabeth was active in historic preservation restoring, among others, the Albert Einstein House. As committed advocate for affordable housing, she was instrumental in creating Architects Housing, Eggerts Crossing Village Community Building and Offices in New Jersey. Her architecture and renovations included buildings in London, Dublin, and many houses on Cape Cod.
She was a gifted teacher, serving as a visiting professor of Architecture at the University of Utah, Louisiana State University, Rutgers University, and visiting critic at the Bartlett School, London. Her service to the New Jersey State Board of Architects included serving as commissioner for six years and president for one. She was secretary and treasurer to the Central Chapter AIA of the New Jersey Society of Architects and selected to serve on a six-member steering Committee for Historic Resources.
In addition to her professional accomplishments Liz was a mother to three daughters, an active feminist, and supporter of Civil Rights who campaigned for Shirley Chisholm and Geraldine Ferraro. A devoted mentor to young men and women pursuing architecture, she generously donated her time to judging design projects in local high schools. She was an accomplished gardener and cook who taught her daughters and grandchildren how to bake bread, make pesto, and eschew processed food. Each birthday featured a delicious and creative birthday cake, with a detailed Irish Cottage one of the most impressive. Her sewing projects were extensive, featuring Liberty prints and Irish tweed, creating unique and beautiful outfits for herself and her children.
An avid reader, a wonderful grandmother, and a mother who inspired and cherished her three daughters, she felt strongly about human rights and civil liberties and, along with her husband, gave generously to charity and liberal causes. An excellent storyteller and great conversationalist, she will be remembered for her wit, intelligence, strength, and empathy. Memorable anecdotes included her waltzing with the writer James Baldwin, and serving as a “Rosie the Riveter” during WWII, welding in an airplane factory as part of the war effort.
Elizabeth was predeceased by her beloved husband Julian Lane Moynahan and eldest daughter, Catherine (husband, Beckman Rich), and is survived by daughters, Brigid Elizabeth Moynahan (husband, Ray Clarke) and ( Molly ) Mary Ellen Moynahan (husband, Timothy Goodrich); four grandchildren, Henry Moynahan Rich, Julian Brizzi, Lucia Brizzi, and Lucas Moynahan Helliker; and two great-grandchildren, Charles and Jack Brizzi. There will be a memorial service held in Princeton, New Jersey, April 2020.
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Matthew (Matty) Shavel
Matthew (Matty) Shavel, husband of Hedy Shepard Shavel and Gloria Tuck Shavel (deceased), brother of Mike, DAD to Jon, Ruth, Merrye (deceased), Stephen, Douglas, Marcie, Michael, Lauren and Ronie. POPPY to Loel and Shoshannah, Suzanne, Gabi and Avi, Joseph, Aaron, Jacob, Julianne, Devon, Marisa and Julia. GRAND POPPY to Ronen and Dean.
Served in the Air Corps during WWII, attended Pratt Institute, 68-year veteran of the Home Textile Industry. Former President of Shavel Home Products, past President of National Bed Bath and Linen Association, past President of the East Meadow Jewish Center, Board Member of The Jewish Center of Princeton and Greenacres CC. A PROUD JEW.
Funeral services were held September 26 at The Jewish Center of Princeton, New Jersey, with burial in Wellwood Cemetery, West Babylon, New York.
The family respectfully requests that donations be made in Matty’s memory to the following: Boys Town Jerusalem Foundation of America, Inc., 1 Penn Plaza, Suite 6250, New York, New York 10119; Greenwood House, 53 Walter Street, Ewing, New Jersey 08628; and The Jewish Center — Rabbi’s Discretionary Fund, 435 Nassau Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540.
Funeral arrangements are by Orland’s Ewing Memorial Chapel.
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Muriel L. Palmer
Muriel L. Palmer of 97 years died peacefully in her home at Windrows in Princeton, NJ, on Sept 24, 2019.
Muriel L. Palmer loved life, beauty, and the natural world. She traveled the world. She was mother to many children. She was loved by all who knew her and will be remembered by those.
Muriel L. Palmer is survived by her daughter Katherine L. Thropp, her husband Jocelyn C. Masson, her sister Florence L. Donigan as well as her two nephews Kevin Donigan and Michael Donigan, and her two nieces Gail L. Traylor and Carol L. Landry.
A memorial service will be held on October 5th at the Ewing Church Cemetery, NJ, at 11 a.m. Donations will be graciously accepted to the Delaware Raritan Canal Commission, POB 539, Stockton, NJ 08559. No flowers please. katethropp50@gmail.com.
Arrangements are under the direction of Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, Princeton.
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Herbert Windsor Hobler
September 25, 1922 — August 10, 2019
Herbert Windsor Hobler, age 96, died August 10, 2019 at Stonebridge at Montgomery in Skillman, New Jersey. A longtime Princeton resident and New Jersey broadcaster who founded radio station WHWH, Herb was a tireless and dedicated volunteer for more than 70 years, serving his college, country, community, and family.
Herb graduated from Princeton University with the Class of 1944, following his service during WWII as a navigator on B-29s flying missions over Japan.
Herb is survived by his four children, Randolph of Norwalk, CT, Debbie of Santa Barbara, CA, Nancy of Germantown, MD, and Mary Hyson of Cheshire, CT; six grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. His wife of 73 years, Mary “Randy” Hobler, died in 2017.
A memorial service celebrating Herb’s life will be held at Princeton Day School’s McAneny Theater on Saturday, October 12 at 1 p.m. PDS, 650 Great Road, Princeton.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Herb’s memory to the Princeton Area Community Foundation for the Herbert and Mary Hobler Operating Endowment.
Arrangements were made by Mather Hodge Funeral Home, 40 Vandeventer Avenue, Princeton, 08542.