Obituaries

Elizabeth Moynan

Elizabeth Ann “Betty” Cressionnie Moynan, 86, a New Orleans native, passed away on Tuesday, January 5, 2021 in New Orleans, LA at Ochsner Medical Center after a short illness. Visitation will be Thursday, January 14, 2021 at the Archdiocese of New Orleans’ Retreat Center, Dedicated to Our Lady of the Cenacle from 11:00am to 12:00pm and will be followed by a Catholic Funeral Mass at noon. The officiant for Betty’s Mass is Fr. Simeon Gallagher, O.F.M.Cap. Interment will follow at Metairie Cemetery.

She is preceded in death by her grandparents, Cleophas Aristide Cressionnie and Rosalie Arthemise Sandras Cressionnie; William Joseph Villavaso and Alice Estelle LeMasson Villavaso; her parents, Lucien Leon Cressionnie and Marguerite “Margaret” Matilde Villavaso; her son, Wesley Robert Moynan and her husband, David Alexander Moynan, Jr. She is survived by her son, David Alexander Moynan, III and his husband John F. Brennan: her daughter Nancy Elizabeth Moynan and her partner Cyndi Mirambell; David L. Futtrell (partner to Wesley); and her adopted family, Ferdinand Schaff, Kimberly Todtschinder Schaff, Sarah, Hilary and Jacob Schaff. She was affectionately known as “Granny Betts”.

Betty was born in New Orleans at Southern Baptist Hospital and attended Grade School at St. Stephen’s School on Napoleon Ave. She graduated from Sophie B. Wright High School and Garner Secretarial School for Women. She worked at Tulane University in the Business Office and married David Moynan, Jr in 1956. She raised her three children in Metairie, LA and worked at Plastic Plants which became Floral Enterprises and also at Santa’s Quarters, a Christmas Shop in the French Quarter. She was a staunch supporter of LGBT rights and was one of the Charter members of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) New Orleans Chapter. She volunteered at Lazarus House which is dedicated to the care of persons living with HIV/AIDS. She also fed the homeless with a team of friends at St. Marks’ Center of Jesus and helped staff the Elizabeth-Alexander Gallery in the French Quarter where she became a trusted friend to many. She was a Eucharistic Minister at St. Dominic Church and Tulane University Hospital.

She enjoyed travel (Medjugorge, Italy, France, Jerusalem) and playing cards (Canasta and Bridge) and was a Silver

Life Master of the Louisiana Bridge Association (the Bridge Center in Metairie). Her love for her friends, family and her faith moved her to never meet a stranger and to share her love and her story with everyone she met. She was truly a treasure and her Catholic faith allowed her heart to be open to all and a special friend to the ministry of Father Bob Powell, OFM and Tau House. She was a retreat Captain at the Archdiocese of New Orleans Retreat Center dedicated to Our Lady of the Cenacle. She was a retreatant since 1963 so there was a strong love for the priests, nuns and staff of “the Cenacle” over the years.

She was a protector and advocate of her ancestral heritage to New Orleans and her faithful alliance to the mission of the “Cenacle”. Her life is celebrated and her love will remain in the hearts of those that she touched, threading so many unlikely people together as a family full of the love of Mom, Betty and “Granny Betts”.

In lieu of flowers Betty had requested donations to two organizations that were important to her life: Crescent Care, A Partnership for Life at 1631 Elysian Fields Ave., New Orleans, LA 70117 (504) 821-2601 and the Archdiocese of New Orleans Retreat Center at 5500 St. Mary Street, Metairie, LA 70006 (504) 887-1420.

For those friends and family who are unable to attend in person due to our current pandemic, you are invited to join Betty’s Celebration of Life in a live stream on Facebook. Search Nancy Moynan (https://www.facebook.com/nancy.moynan.3) for live stream access.

The family invites you to share fond memories and condolences online at www.lakelawnmetairie.com

Published January 10, 2021

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