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| Photo of Louise Moran taken by Linton Godown of Union City TN. Linton married Louise's cousin, Carolyn Cobb. |
We learned recently of the death of Louise Moran. She was the last of the "older" generation of Morans of Dresden Tennessee.
Louise was the only daughter and youngest child of James H. Moran III and Virginia Shumate which means she was most likely extremely spoiled! She was born September 24, 1923, and given the name Marion Louise Moran. Like her two older brothers, Jim IV and Nathan "Bub", Louise was born at the family home, Moran Place, in Dresden, Tennessee. When Louise was born she inherited a Moran family trait of having one leg about an inch or so shorter than the other. It never held her back from her goals in life.
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| Birth Announcement |
Her name most likely a nod to two of her aunts: Marion Moran Cobb and Louise Shumate Durway.
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| Lock of hair from a five year old Louise |
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| Louise Moran & Joy Jones |
Her best friend when she was growing up was Joy Jones. That lock of hair from above was probably snipped about the same time this photo was taken of her. You can see she has a hint of red. Her grandmother, Sophia Gunn Moran, had red hair too.
Louise was an exceptional student and after graduating from high school she attended Southwestern College in Memphis, Tennessee earning a Bachelor of Arts. A big Moran family reunion was held in 1945, not long after her graduation. A lot of family pictures from that reunion can be found here. She next attended Case Western Reserve in Ohio where she received her Master of Science in Social Administration in 1949.
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| Marisa Horton (L) and Louise Moran (R) Jacksonville FLA, Jan 1947 Marisa Horton may have been a classmate/roommate. |
After graduation Louise moved to New York to pursue a career. While in New York she met her future husband, Dr. Robert Wrisley Atkins. In 1954 she published "Some Emotional Responses of Patients' Husbands to the Psychotherapeutic Course as Indicated in Interviews with the Psychiatric Caseworker", American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, v. 24, #2.
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| Ria Moran, Kent Moran, Louise Moran Atkins and Mary Moran. |
On November 12 1961 she became the second wife of Robert Atkins. They were married back in her home town of Dresden Tennessee. After the wedding they returned to their home and careers in Rochester, New York. Having no children of her own, she was a step mom to Bob's children.
In August 1995, Aunt Louise came back to Tennessee to attend the funeral of Sophia Eleanor Ezzell Dobson in Nashville, Tennessee. Aunt Sophie, the grand-daughter of J.W. Moran, was a grand old dame in the finest southern tradition. She is the one who gave Kent and I the task of chronicling the Moran family. The group photo was taken at the get together after the funeral and includes Ria Moran, Kent Moran, Louise Moran Atkins and myself, Mary Moran.
Louise had an interest in family history and was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Bob died on September 28, 2003. Aunt Louise passed on September 15, 2014.
