Mrs. Patricia Buchanan Moynahan

Patricia Buchanan Moynahan, a reading specialist in the Pittsfield Public School system for 20 years and volunteer for adult literacy since retirement, died peacefully at the Kimball Farms Sunset Nursing home in Lenox, MA on Thursday, September 5, 2024. She was born to Florence B. Dorsey and Alvin F. Buchanan on March 22nd, 1934, and grew up with seven siblings in the Peekskill, NY. home in which her father was born. The view of the Hudson River and Bear Mountain from the house affected her profoundly; the home was the site of family gatherings for decades. She attended Peekskill public schools, where she met her high school sweetheart, John Francis Moynahan. They married in 1956 at the Assumption Roman Catholic Church in Peekskill. They celebrated sixty-eight years of marriage together on January 7th, 2024. After a memorable few years living in Bermuda while he was stationed in the Air Force, they settled in Longmeadow and then Pittsfield, MA. They loved attending Tanglewood and listening to the concerts on the radio. Both enjoyed a wide circle of friends across Berkshire County and the Hudson Valley. She graduated from Oneonta State Teacher's College (now SUNY Oneonta) and gained her Masters of Education with a specialization in reading disabilities and writing from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 1987. She had a love for, and excellent knowledge of, birds, trees, and flowers and volunteered for years at the Berkshire Sanctuaries of the Massachusetts Audubon Society. She was a member of the Berkshire County Literacy Volunteers and particularly enjoyed teaching adults to read. She competed in masters swimming events until late in her life, and she enjoyed tennis and golf. She was active in local politics and helped found the Women Empowering Neighborhoods (WHEN) movement in Pittsfield in the 1990s. At St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Pittsfield, she found both a spiritual and musical home, and she enjoyed lending her marvelous alto voice to the choir. She spent her last ten years at Kimball Farms Life Care, surrounded by many old and close friends from Berkshire County and meeting many new ones. She was Vice-President of the Resident Association there and continued singing in the choir. Reading was her passion, and she read contemporary and classical fiction, poetry, and travel accounts avidly; she was reading and annotating poetry until the day before her death. She is survived by her husband John, and her sons and their spouses: John and Susie Moynahan (Elk Grove, CA), Pete and Charlotte Moynahan (Marietta, GA), Steve and Kelly Moynahan (Park City, UT), and Greg Moynahan and Danielle Riou (Red Hook, NY). She is also survived by their grandchildren -- Connor, Neil, Jack, Chelsea, Kate, Rayne, Henry, and Philip -- and great-grandchildren: Madison and Albie. She is also survived by her sisters Diana Dwyer (Mahopac, NY), Brenda Bergman (Shelter Island, NY), Sharon Perlman (Lancaster, SC), and brother William Buchanan (Santa Fe, NM). She is predeceased by her sisters Lorna Zaia (Garden City, NY) and brothers Alvin F. Buchanan (New York, NY) and Jeffrey Buchanan (Katonah, NY). At her request, there will be a celebration of life event on November 16th at Kimball Farms. Please contact Greg Moynahan at gmoynahan@gmail.com with any questions.

Mrs. Patricia Buchanan Moynahan

March 22, 1934 - September 5, 2024