Sara. B. Moseley, first woman PCUS moderator, dies

Sara Moseley

By Jerry L. Van Marter

Sara Bernice Moseley, the first woman moderator of the former Presbyterian Church of the United States (PCUS), died July 18 in Sherman, Texas, after a brief hospitalization. She was 95.

Raised in Anson, Texas, Moseley graduated from Texas State College for Women (now Texas Women’s University). In 1941 she married John D. Moseley and his career took them to Fort Worth, Dallas, Washington, D.C. and in 1953 to Sherman, where he served as president and then chancellor of Austin College until his retirement in 1981. Sara B. was from that time on known lovingly as “the first lady” of Austin College.

Sara B devoted her life to her family, the Sherman community and the college and to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Long active in Presbyterian Women, she served the denomination in a variety of capacities at all levels. In 1978 she was elected moderator of the PCUS, the first woman to hold that position. As moderator she was a strong advocate for Presbyterian reunion, which occurred in 1983. She served as the first chair of the General Assembly Council of the new church and helped guide the reunited body through its first years.