Thomas Lyons Moses

Colonel Thomas Lyons Moses

A career Army officer, hospital administrator and informal “mayor” of Albuquerque’s Old Town. A devoted husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and uncle. Those are among the roles New Mexico native Col. Thomas Lyons Moses embraced during his 98 years here on earth. He passed away Friday, August 12, 2022.

Tom’s life was built on integrity. Although a military man to the core, he had the special quality of respecting and welcoming all others and their ideas, forging relationships despite differences. Among his strongest attributes was his moral compass: it wasn’t what he preached, it just came naturally and was how he lived his life. He simply put others before himself.

He was born on March 11, 1924, in Gallup, New Mexico, to Horace Moses and Alice Bailey. He grew up in Gamerco just outside Gallup, and in Santa Rita just outside Silver City, where his father managed the coal mines in Gallup and the Santa Rita Kennecott  copper mine. Tom’s mother died when he was less than a year old, so his older sister, Elsie, helped raise him. Memories of his early years include tense moments because of labor strife between miners and corporate owners. That led to Tom being sent to live with his aunt in California for a year due to kidnapping threats. He returned to Gallup, and at the age of 12 his father married a Southwest Indian Tour Guide named Margaret Wennips — which sparked Tom’s love of Native American art.

Tom graduated from high school at the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, and completed his freshman year in college at NMMI before volunteering for the army in late 1942 during World War II. Two years later he was accepted into the West Point Military Academy, where he became lifelong friends with other special men. Among them were cadets Jack Rust and Bob Kemble, who both later made New Mexico their home.

Tom went on to serve a stellar 33-year career in the US Army, retiring in 1979. His service would take him from Austria to the Pentagon, from Korea to Saigon, from Alaska to Panama. But Tom’s favorite assignments were when he was working with young troops, often recalling individuals’ names and their stories years later. Throughout his military career, New Mexico remained Tom’s home base and the family spent their vacations here.

Upon his retirement, he returned to New Mexico and attended UNM’s Anderson Schools of Management, where he earned his second master’s degree, this one in public administration. He interned in 1981 at what was then the Bernalillo County Medical Center, and ultimately became the hospital’s Director of Facilities and Human Resources before retiring in the late 1980s.

He then embarked on yet another career — managing the Nizhoni Moses gallery in Old Town. It was at this time he became president of the Old Town Merchants Association. As in all of his other careers, Tom would be at Old Town at all hours — meeting with business owners and their customers, forming relationships and becoming close friends with many Native American potters, jewelers and weavers.

Tom was extremely lucky in love. He didn’t find just one, but two, soul mates to share his life. The first was 1st Lt. Willie Mae “Penny” Singleton, who outranked 2nd Lt. Tom Moses when they married in 1950 in Fort Benning, GA. She was truly his partner as they raised four children in more than a dozen locations. She passed in 1991 after a lengthy illness.

Tom found his second love in Kay Maureen Keszler, who he married in 1992. Kay brought joy once again to Tom’s life. The two traveled, attended their grandchildren’s sporting events, and were extremely active at Saint John’s Episcopal Cathedral. Tom welcomed Kay’s children and grandchildren, treating them like his own.

Through all of his careers, one common thread was his belief that work was more than a job — it was an opportunity to make a difference. He instilled that trait in his children, who each found a calling: as an engineer, a lawyer, a journalist, and an educator. But Tom will be best remembered for his friendliness and his genuine interest in everyone he met. Whether a waiter or an employee or a caregiver or a friend of one of his children, they never remained a stranger. He wanted to know their story.

So this is his story — or a small piece of it. It’s a story that will live on in his friends and extended family, which stretch from California to Alaska to Durango to Canada.

Among his survivors are: his wife, Kay Maureen Moses; his four children, Thomas Lyons Moses Jr. and his wife, Nancy of Alaska; his daughters, Margaret Moses Branch, Karen Moses Oltmans and son-in-law, Doug Oltmans, and Dr. Elsie Moses-Hoeg and son-in-law, Ken Hoeg, all of Albuquerque; his grandchildren, Michael Moses, daughter-in-law, Jennifer and great-granddaughter, Annie Claire of Denver; Brian Moses and daughter-in-law, Michelle of Austin, Texas; and Mark Moses of Seattle; Shana Oltmans, son-in-law, Alan Cohn and great-grandson, Daniel of Alexandria, Va.; Margaret “Meg” Oltmans of Seattle; and Alice “Ali” Oltmans and son-in-law, Erik Floren of Seattle; Paul Hoeg of Albuquerque; Matthew Hoeg and son-in-law, Godfried Asante of San Diego; and Joshua Hoeg and his partner, Kayla King of Medford, Ore.; his stepson, Eric Keszler, his wife, O’Hara and children Madison, Isaac and Esme of Memphis, Tenn., and Preston McMinn of Destin, Fla.; stepdaughter, Dr. Lori Moll and her husband, Dr. Michael Moll of Walsenburg, Colo., and their children, Max Moll of Denver, Sarah Moll and husband, Jason Grey of Portland, Ore., and Emily Bressan-Moll and husband, Daniel Bressan and their son, Damon of Denver, Colo.

The family requests that donations be made to Army Emergency Relief (armyermergencyrelief.org) or Western New Mexico University (foundation.WNMU.edu).

A Memorial Service will be at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 3, 2022, , at the Cathedral of St. John, 318 Silver Ave. SW, in Albuquerque, with a reception at the church immediately following the service.