Thomas Fish Moffett

1924 - 2018

Thomas Fish Moffett

Louisville - Thomas Fish Moffett, 94, died peacefully at his home Sunday morning, May 27, 2018, with daughter Anne beside him. In his final days, Tom enjoyed the love and friendship of numerous friends and family, most of whom left with the message, "Don't Mourn, Organize!"

Born May 18, 1924, to Presbyterian missionary Rev. Samuel Austin Moffett and Lucia Hester Fish in the Korean city of Pyongyang, Tom lived until age 12 with his four brothers in a Christian mission and witnessed as a child the human suffering and injustice that informed his later life. Tom served in the Navy during WWII. He later studied at Wheaton College near Chicago and Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey, after which he became an ordained Presbyterian minister. Tom later returned to school and earned a Bachelor Degree in Accounting from University of Louisville.

Tom served as a pastor in a mining camp in Four States, WV, and later in Wheeling, WV, then on to Kansas City, MO, where as associate pastor of an urban church, he was determined to welcome black members to the congregation. "Getting to know African-American people as people, black people as people - that shaped the rest of my life," he once said in an interview. A trip to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, in 1964 with a group of white ministers to march for equal voting rights gave Tom his "taste" for the power of peaceful protest in the civil rights struggle.

In 1966, Tom and his family moved to the West End of Louisville when he became pastor of New Covenant Presbyterian and his transition from pastor to activist began in earnest. He became involved in the open-housing movement and efforts to integrate public schools, eventually leaving the pastorate in 1975 so he could better serve the community as an activist and organizer. He worked closely with Anne Braden, a founder of the Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, and became an active member of Grace Hope Presbyterian Church in Smoketown, serving as treasurer of both organizations until his retirement. Tom also served as an accountant at Park DuValle Health Center.

Tom's commitment to social justice was recognized in 1992 when he received the Martin Luther King, Jr. Freedom Award, as a 2007 inductee to the Kentucky Civil Rights Hall of Fame, and by the Kentucky Alliance against Racist and Political Repression with the 2016 Carl and Anne Braden Lifetime Achievement Award. Tom was a well-known speaker/protester at Louisville Metro Council and JCPS Board meetings where he championed a variety of social and justice issues close to his heart. He was active in efforts to create a Citizens Police Review Board, an initially successful push that did not survive the city/county merger. In later years he was involved in the movement advocating for nationwide single payer health care. Tom, known affectionately by many as "The Man in the Red Sweater," was an organizer, rabble-rouser and peacemaker to his final days, never tiring in his quest for equality and human rights.

Left to celebrate his life are his daughter, Anne Moffett Thompson, granddaughter Amanda Brown, great grandson Travis and his son-in-law, Mack Thompson. Also remembering Tom is family friend Christie Swan, as well as his extended family at Grace Hope Presbyterian, the Kentucky Alliance and the social justice community of Louisville. Preceding him in death were his parents, brothers Charles, James, Howard and Samuel Hugh Moffett and a daughter, Mary Margaret Moffett.

A church service will be held on Friday, June 1, 2018, at 4:00pm at Grace Hope Presbyterian Church (702 E. Breckenridge St.). Visitation with the family begins at 3:00pm. Planned later this summer is a memorial service and celebration to honor Tom's service to the community.

Suggestions for expressions of sympathy include The Braden Center, Grace Hope Presbyterian Church, The Kentucky Alliance or your favorite social justice organization.