Thomas Joseph 'Tom' Moylan, 69

Thomas Joseph "Tom" Moylan, M.D., was born Nov. 4, 1935, in Omaha, Neb., the oldest of four children of John and Violet Moylan, died at home July 14, 2005, in Missoula. He attended Holy Name High School and Creighton University, Bachelor of Science in English (cum laude), Master of Science in physiology, and M.D. (Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society.)

With Frontier College, Tom did railroad labor and taught English to displaced persons in Canada. He spent 18 months working as a merchant seaman out of the port of New Orleans, traveled the world and earned enough to pay for medical school.

He met Mary Frances Grabowsky in French class at Creighton University and they were married Aug. 20, 1960. The year 1961 saw the completion of a USPHS Post-Sophomore Research Fellowship and the birth of Thomas Joseph Jr. His internship at Sacred Heart Hospital took the young family to Spokane, where Dennis John was born just in time to move to Alaska.

Tom was USPHS surgeon at Kanakanak Hospital in Dillingham, Alaska, and traveled to the remote villages of Bristol Bay and the Aleutian Peninsula. In 1964 (via his ham radio), Fr. William Dibb S.J., of Holy Rosary Mission reassured our Midwest families that the Good Friday earthquake spared our area. Fr. Norm Donahue S.J., baptized Anne Mary before the trip down the Alcan Highway to Browning, where Tom was the service unit director for the USPHS hospital.

He then practiced general medicine with Dr. Dave Advise in Roundup, where Bridge Ellen was born. During the late '60s, Tom chaired the Committee on Environmental Health, Montana Medical Association, which drafted the Clean Air legislation that would become law in 1973.

He published "Environmental Health: Urgent Challenge of the '70s," Rocky Mountain Medical Journal and made the presentation Health Aspects of City Design to the Colorado Medical Association when the family moved to Littleton, Colo. He was among the first physicians certified in the American Board of Family Practice before entering a University of Colorado pathology residency.

While living in Colorado, Tom and Mary Fran became active in Trout Unlimited and conservation efforts to preserve the Kettering Park Natural Area and to realize the Littleton Plan for the South Platte River Valley Flood Plain Park.

After practicing pathology at the West Nebraska General Hospital in Scottsbluff, the family returned to Montana in 1977. Tom joined Dr. Bernie McLaverty in an independent pathology practice, serving the outlying hospital labs in Polson, Ronan, St. Ignatius, Superior, Plains, Thompson Falls and Hamilton. During the next 25 years, Tom worked in various medical areas, including associate medical director, American Red Cross blood services and associate medical examiner Division of Forensic Science and president, Montana Pathology Society.

Retirement allowed Tom to pursue his interests in languages and other cultures with classes in German, Russian, Arabic and Gaelic along with Russian literature and Spanish art history at the University of Montana.

Tom was active in his church community at Saint Francis Xavier and with the Knights of Columbus. He volunteered in the greater community serving on the Missoula Water Quality Board, the Rattlesnake Neighborhood Association, the Missoula Preservation Alliance and the Missoula International Friendship Program.

Dr. Moylan's most recent endeavors were concentrated in the Xavier Foundation, the efforts of which are ongoing and detailed at www.xavierfoundation.net.

Tom was awarded the International and Multicultural Award "in recognition and with deep appreciation for years of devoted service and dedication toward making foreign visitors feel at home in Montana and promoting global awareness and friendship between international students and scholars at the University of Montana and the greater Missoula community" by the Missoula International Friendship Program.

Dr. Thomas Joseph Moylan is survived by his loving family including his wife, Mary Frances; son, Tom, and Nikki of Los, Osos, Calif.; son, Dennis, and Jean of Bozeman; daughter, Anne Douglas and Bob of Bellevue, Wash.; daughter, Bridget McMillion and Geoff of Boise, Idaho; 10 grandchildren; sister, Maureen Rathfon, and Barry of Ketchum, Idaho; sister, Kathy Brown, and Larry of Denver; brother, John, and Susie of Omaha, Neb.; and 17 nephews and nieces.

The rosary is at 7:30 p.m. today, July 20, at Garden City Funeral Home and the funeral Mass will be at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, July 21, at Saint Francis Xavier Church.

Memorials can be directed to Missoula Catholic Schools, St. Francis Xavier Church Restoration Foundation, Missoula International Friendship Program, Montana Cancer Center or Partners in Home Care Inc.