Daniel Moynihan

Daniel Martin Moynihan died in the early morning hours of July 3, 2020 at the age of 63. Dan was a beloved husband and father who gave his all for his family.

Born on Dec. 11, 1956 at Mercy Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, Dan’s early years were spent on the south side of Chicago, which at the time was made up of typical middle-class families. Dan would later tell his kids stories of playing ice hockey in the winter, shoveling snow from the driveway, and eating authentic Chicago pizza. 

Dan’s dad, Leo, was in the printing industry and he moved the family to Houston in 1973 to take advantage of Houston’s booming economy and low cost of living. Dan graduated from Spring Branch High School in 1974.

After high school, Dan took a few classes at Houston Community College, but soon set his sights on his dream school, Baylor University. At the time, he was working part time in the print shop at Houston’s First Baptist Church and, as the story goes, he drove to Waco in a Chevy Vega that had been donated to him by a church member. He often told the story that he broke down multiple times on his way to Waco that Fall, but he finally arrived with little more than a backpack of clothes and a few hundred dollars rolled up in a sock. He was on scholarship at Baylor and graduated in 1983 with a degree in Journalism.  While at Baylor, he was a staff member on the student-led newspaper, the Lariat.

He loved his time at Baylor and he was so proud and happy when his oldest son Evan decided to attend Baylor too. Since Evan was a member of the Baylor choir program, Dan could often be found at one of Evan’s many concerts in the McCrary Music Building. In the 4 years Evan attended Baylor, Dan only missed a total of one or two concerts. He was also able to attend a few Baylor football games in person, which he loved. He wore his green and gold proudly and wore his Baylor ring until the day he died.

Although he didn’t start out a University of Texas fan, Dan was excited to add the UT football games to his weekends when his middle son, David, became a student there. He was so proud of David’s acceptance into the UT Business School and loved visiting him in Austin as often as he could. 

Dan loved being a dad. His 3 boys, Evan Daniel, David Houston, and Ryan Morgan, were the joy of his life. From the time they were little Dan took them camping and fishing, and enjoyed doing all kinds of water activities with them. He attended as many of his boys’ activities as he possibly could. From choir and orchestra concerts to swim meets and tennis matches, he was there. He could often be heard on videos of his kids’ events, cheering and screaming for them. He was not shy in his support of his boys. He attended numerous elementary school parties and was present at just about every parent-teacher conference. He took a very active role in his kids’ lives and he wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Dan was so excited to attend the Mr. CyFalls competition this past February where Ryan was crowned the winner. He talked about that competition for days! One of his last family outings was to see his son, Ryan graduate from high school and give the closing remarks. He was able to see all 3 boys graduate from high school with honors. He was so proud of them.

Dan is survived by his wife of 31 years, Jill Morgan Moynihan. They met in 1984 after Jill graduated from UT Austin and got her first job in the San Antonio branch of a company called Design Graphics. Dan worked in their Houston office at the time. Their first date was actually a company-paid outing where Jill was asked by her supervisor to show Dan around San Antonio. She took him to the Riverwalk, and the rest, as they say, was history. After they dated long distance for a while, Jill moved to Houston where they would continue to date until they married on Feb. 25, 1989 at Houston’s Second Baptist Church.

They had many adventures together over the years. Jill was a Continental Airlines flight attendant early on in their marriage, and one of Dan’s favorite things to do was to pack their bags and go to the airport, not really sure where they would end up. Hawaii, Washington State, and New York were a few of their favorite destinations, but they traveled all over. Dan liked to say that they did “reverse retirement”.

Their first child was born in 1995 and from then on, Dan’s most treasured role was that of “Dad”.
Dan worked in the printing industry for many years, and for almost 30 of those years he was at the same company, Tristar Web Graphics where he was a Vice President. Tristar was located on Airline Drive which was a very rural area when the company first purchased their land. By the time Dan worked there, however, the area had changed and it wasn’t unusual for him to encounter the homeless, prostitutes, and drug addicts on his way to and from work. Dan would frequently give someone the clothes off his back and his last few dollars so they could buy some food. He was known to fix a flat tire or give a ride to a stranded driver. When he heard God’s call, he didn’t hesitate to help someone in need. In his last few years, as he headed toward retirement, he took a job in outside sales. He loved his job because it gave him the opportunity to talk with all different kinds of people. He would often come home with a funny or unusual story about someone he had met that day. He was a kind soul who often rooted for the underdog. For many years, he volunteered to mentor young men who were in youth detention facilities. He loved doing that and had recently taken steps to get back into it. He loved knowing that he made a difference in those young men’s lives.

Dan loved the Lord and loved sharing his faith with others. He delved into scripture interpretation and often got into deep spiritual discussions with his boys. He had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that guided him throughout his life. He is in the arms of his Savior now.

In addition to his wife Jill and their 3 boys, Dan is survived by his mother, Sharon Moynihan, his sister, Laura Krippner (husband Karl), his brothers Brian Moynihan and Sean Moynihan (wife Becky), his sisters-in-law Sally Petermann (husband Thomas) and Jane Garza, and 11 nieces and nephews. Dan is preceded in death by his father, Leo Edward Moynihan, his father-in-law, Emmett Houston Morgan, and his brother-in-law Robert Shane Garza.

Dan was a huge lover of the ocean. One of his favorite things to do was to swim way out until he could barely see the land. He said that he loved how beautiful, but powerful the ocean was. So, the next time you’re near the ocean and you hear the crash of the waves, think of Dan and his zest for life. After God made Dan, he surely broke the mold. He was deeply loved and greatly cherished and he will be in our hearts forever.