Moneta Speaker Prince

02/06/1936 - 10/13/2025

Moneta Speaker Prince had a fruitful, inspiring and abundant life driven by love of family and friends, intellectual curiosity and a trust in God whom she faithfully desired to serve. Moneta was born in Dallas, Texas and grew up in the neighborhood of Highland Park. It was at Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas where she met the love of her life, Clarence (Jack) Prince, and celebrated sixty-two years of marriage, until his passing in 2018. Soon after they were married, they became educational missionaries working for the Presbyterian Church in South Korea and later, Indonesia.
Moneta earned her BA, MA and finally, her PhD in English (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) from the University of Texas at Austin. She taught students at both the graduate and undergraduate levels in their own languages, having become fluent in both Korean and Indonesian. She taught at Taejon Presbyterian College in Korea in the 1960's, now Hannam University, when the college, currently a well-regarded national university, was beginning to coalesce. This was an exciting time in her life. She was able to directly observe and experience the positive impact she was having in others lives. When she and Jack returned to the United States, she taught at Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. While in Pennsylvania, she and Jack received an inquiry as to their interest in returning to Korea, which they gladly accepted.
They returned to Seoul, South Korea, where Jack and Moneta taught and developed educational programs at SoongSil University. She enjoyed working with the faculty there and made many friends. In 1984, she and Jack left South Korea for Satya Wacana Christian University in Salatiga, Central Java, Indonesia and continued their work there, with Jack teaching electrical engineering and computer science and Moneta teaching English and linguistics.
After retiring and settling down in Austin, Moneta found fulfillment in serving her church, tutoring and doing volunteer work with Manos de Cristo (Hands of Christ) and the Interfaith Community for Palestinian Rights (ICPR). In 2005, Governor Ann Richards presented her with the United Way Capital Area's Partner in Service award on the part of Manos de Cristo, noting that Moneta "has and will continue to make a profound impact on Manos de Cristo and thousands of lives". Many of her students adored her. She was kind, generous and loving and is dearly missed. Truly, a life well-lived.
Moneta was born on February 6, 1936 to Paul Harrison Speaker and Moneta May Storey in Dallas, Texas. She had two siblings, Harrison Speaker (deceased) and Betty Baldwin (deceased). She married Clarence E. (Jack) Prince in 1956 and had two daughters, Lillian C. Prince (Austin, TX) and Clara P. Hawkins (Clovis, NM), both born in Korea. Other family members include Lillian's husband, Martin Bandomir, Clara's husband, William J. Hawkins and their children, Natasha and her son, Zayven Prince, and her daughter, Eva, Carl, Danielle Miller and Danielle's husband, Kyle, sister-in-law Helen Furlong and son, Jack Furlong, brother-in-law John Prince, sister-in-law Linda Prince, and numerous nieces and nephews. On Monday, November 17, 2025 at 2:00 p.m., her memorial service will be held at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 3208 Exposition Blvd, Austin, TX. 78703. Those wishing to honor her memory in a special way may contribute to Christian Friends of Korea (an organization helping TB and hepatitis patients in North Korea), 129 Center Ave., Black Mountain, NC, 28711, or to Westminster Presbyterian Church's mission fund.