Joan O'Bryan Moser

Mother, grandmother, great-grandmother. A woman of deep faith, devotion to family, and a lover of music, learning, and animals.

Joan O’Bryan was born August 2, 1931 in Evanston IL, to Marnell and Ruth O’Bryan. She attended St. Peter Catholic grade school, St. Scholastica High School, and St. Francis Hospital School of Nursing. It was during nursing school that Joan met the love of her life, Roy Moser, who was a Loyola University medical student. Joan and Roy married August 9, 1952. Joan soon became a very busy stay at home mother. She held it all together as the family grew, through moves from Chicago to Louisville KY, San Antonio TX, Fort Benning, GA, and Detroit MI for Roy’s medical training and military service. They settled in Edgewood KY in 1961, 7 kids in tow. Four more were yet to be born.

Joan was a master organizer - notably of carpools, their children’s chores, and meals (her beef vegetable soup with corn bread was the best!). She made holidays and birthdays extra special, creating costumes for the kids to wear in the annual Edgewood 4th of July parade and Halloween, and making a birthday cake and meal of choice for the birthday boy or girl. She planned and packed for the family’s many trips to Lake Cumberland, and the occasional long road trips to beaches in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. She and Roy invariably allowed the kids to bring friends along (likely as buffers to sibling conflict!). When the last of the 11 went off to first grade, Joan returned to school part-time, earning her Bachelor’s Degree in General Studies from Thomas More College. She also took a nursing refresher course along the way, and for a time was a hospice volunteer for St. Elizabeth Hospital.

Joan had a soft spot for animals and was known to take in stray dogs from time to time, and a few kittens. The family pets also included guinea pigs, hamsters, turtles, fish, birds, and a mouse. Her favorite was her dear dog, Beau, who lived for 18 years.

She found peace in gardening - cherry tomatoes, swiss chard, summer squash, and geraniums were her specialties.

Joan continued her family’s musical legacy as long-time member of the Blessed Sacrament church choir. Her children have fond memories of singing with her in the car on road trips, around the fire on camping trips, and around the piano at home. Among the top ten hits were White Choral Bells, Edelweiss, When You Come to the End of a Lollipop, and Joy is Like the Rain.

Church was central in Joan’s life. She and Roy participated in the Cursillo movement in the early 1960s and treated the family to family camping at Camp Marydale. In addition to the church choir, Joan was a Benedictine oblate and developed close friendships among the sisters at St. Walburg Monastery in Villa Hills.

Joan and Roy enjoyed boating and tennis. They were also fans and season ticket holders of the Cincinnati Bengals. They had the good fortune in later years to enjoy numerous sailing and scuba diving trips with friends and family in the Caribbean; Elder Hostel trips throughout the U.S., which fed their intellectual curiosity and enjoyment of making new friends from all walks of life; trips to Japan, Europe, and to South America, where they climbed Machu Pichu and explored the Galapagos. They delighted in their ever-growing family of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. After Roy passed away in 2009, Joan continued to travel with friends; on a trip to the Holy Land she was memorably evacuated to Jordan.

Joan was known for her sharp intellect, quiet wisdom, and wit, kindness, gentle demeanor, and understated sense of humor. She had an openness and genuine interest in others, which engendered a feeling of understanding in her quiet and empathic listening. She was an enthusiastic library patron and was never without a pile of books by her living room chair or bedside table.

Joan was preceded in death by her husband, Roy, son Roy III, grandson Justin Volpe, sons-in-law Kurt Drotleff and Tom Theis, and sister, Annell Buch. She is survived by her brother, Bob O'Bryan (Lee) and sister, Maureen Urso (Bruce), children Gina Ruehl (Bill), daughter-in-law Heather Moser, Daryl Theis, Mary Jo Fishwick (Jeff), Ellie Krutowsky (Steve), Suzy Nauman (Chris), Barbie Powers (Jim), Neal (Kim), Greg, Bryan (Harunaga), Mark (Kristin), 36 grandchildren, and 45 great grandchildren.

Visitation will be held at 8:30am on Saturday, August 8, 2026, at Blessed Sacrament Church, located at 2409 Dixie Hwy., Fort Mitchell KY, followed at 10:00am by a Mass of the Christian Burial. Joan will be laid to rest at St. Mary Cemetery in Fort Mitchell.

Memorial contributions may be made to Diocesan Catholic Children's Home (https://www.dcchcenter.org/donate/) or the American Cancer Society. (Donate Today | The American Cancer Society).