Bonnie Moran

Bonnie Moran (Brenda Anne Coogan), along with twin sister Charlene Anne, was born October 14, 1936, to parents Mabel and Charlie Coogan. She was granted eternal rest on October 1, 2025, after a brief illness. The Rosary will be Tuesday, October 7, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. followed by visitation. The Mass of Christian Burial will begin at 10:30 a.m. with burial to follow. The Rosary and Mass will be at St. Helena Catholic Church in Hobbs and the burial at Prairie Haven Cemetery in Hobbs.

A New Englander by birth and a New Mexican by choice, Bonnie grew up in Auburndale, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. She graduated from Newton High School and Regis College in Weston, Massachusetts, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology. Industrious and hardworking, Bonnie helped put herself through college by waitressing in the summers and living at home while in school. Supporting good education for all was a foundational maxim for Bonnie, and later in life she served for several years on the Board of Trustees of Regis College.

Upon graduating, Bonnie joined a group of Regis graduates launching a service program to teach at St. Helena School in Hobbs, New Mexico. The group needed one more teacher and even though she did not have a teaching background, Bonnie said “yes”. It was intended to be a one-year commitment before graduate school. However, after arriving in Hobbs, she met Bob Moran and plans soon changed. Bob Moran and Bonnie Coogan married in 1959, and Bonnie settled in Hobbs and Lea County to stay. She grew deep roots in Hobbs and created her own oasis of green in the desert, which is known to many critters including squirrels, foxes, hawks, toads, butterflies, hummingbirds, neighborhood cats, resident Koi fish and practically every migrating species of bird.

Bob and Bonnie were blessed with eight children, mourning the loss of one of them as a baby. When Bob passed away in 1985, none of their children had yet graduated from college. Over the next twelve years, Bonnie celebrated all seven of their grown children graduating from Catholic colleges. Her family now includes her children’s spouses, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. She has been an active member of the St. Helena church community since 1959 and was famous for the delicious caramels she made each year for the church’s family fair. She was a long-time member of the Altar Society and served on the parish finance council for many years.

Bonnie has been involved in a wide variety of community, church, and civic organizations since her early days in Hobbs. She volunteered as a “Pink Lady” at the hospital, earning a 1,000-hour pin and served on the Lea Regional Hospital Board of Trustees for eighteen years. She was a founding member of New Mexico First, a state-wide organization focused on raising awareness and creating a common understanding of issues affecting all New Mexicans. She helped start the Committee for Hobbs--Hobbs Beautiful and served on that board for many years. She was a member of the Board of Advisors for the UNM Children’s Psychiatric Hospital and served on the Board of the Southwest Symphony. At her death she was a member of the Hobbs Cemetery advisory board, a commitment she gladly kept for more than fifty years. She promoted education at every level with both her time and generous support, from Head Start and the School Board of St. Helena Catholic School, to the Diocese of Las Cruces, the Educate New Mexico Foundation, University of the Southwest, and colleges and universities throughout the country. She served on the NMJC Board for thirteen years (1987-2000), and for more than twenty years, including 2025, Bonnie sponsored the annual Lea County in-service for all school personnel in partnership with New Mexico Junior College.

Full of life and character, Bonnie loved spreading the Christmas spirit. Her life-sized Nativity display has been a fixture for many years, and children of all ages light up at the sight of the North Pole collection, which was first shared with the young children from Mother Goose and St. Helena School and later with the entire community as part of the Christmas season celebration at the Western Heritage Museum.

Bonnie did not seek honors but received many in recognition for her service to the community and her church. She was named a Trustee of Free Enterprise by the College of the Southwest, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Lea County Women’s Network, was the Hobbs Realtors’ Association Citizen of the Year, a Jim Harris Fellow presented by Rotary International, and a recipient of the Silver Concho Award from the Western Heritage Museum and Lea County Cowboy Hall of Fame. In 2024 she was awarded a distinguished papal honor of the Benemerenti Medal from Pope Francis. She was a member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem for nearly six decades and was a Southwest Lieutenancy Section representative for nearly forty of those. With devotion to duty and determined loyalty, she attended the Orders’ annual meeting consistently for fifty-six years. She also served a term as a member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ National Advisory Council.

Predeceased by her parents and sister, her husband Robert M. Moran, son Charles E. “Chuck” Moran, and infant son Christopher Martin Moran, Bonnie is survived by daughters Patricia “Trish” Jones (Terry Jones), Kathleen “Kathy” Moran, and Ellen Arvayo (David), and sons Andrew “Andy” Moran, Kevin Moran (Deborah), and Timothy “Tim” Moran (Elizabeth), grandchildren Megan Jones Thurman (Chad), Erin Jones Schwartz (Jacob), Katherine “Katie” Moran, and Robert M. Arvayo, great-grandchildren Theophilus, Emilia, and Edith Thurman, and numerous nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews.

Memorial contributions of your time, talent, or treasure may be made to St. Helena Catholic School or another local charity of your choice—Bonnie supported them all.