If you wish to write a note to posted here please email it to: kerstin@fawnet.org
please use subject line Kati Moran Memorial

Also you can include your favorite photo that you want to share!


Kati with Maarit at a recent FAWN event

To keep Kati’s memory alive, FAWN (Finnish and American Women’s Network) has created the “Kati Moran Memorial Fund.”  If you wish to make a contribution, please send a check to the order of FAWN (PO Box 3623, NY, NY 10163-3623) and mark the check “Kati Moran Memorial Fund.”

The fund will be used to benefit causes and activities that were close to Kati's heart. 
Acknowledgement about your donation will be sent to Kati's family!

A remembrance of Kati Moran

Tarja Moran, known as Kati to her many friends and loved ones, died suddenly Friday morning December 7, 2007. Kati was born in Helsinki, Finland in 1953. She was living in Uppsala, Sweden in 1981 where she met her husband-to-be, Thomas Moran, a post-doctoral student at the Biomedical Center in Uppsala. They returned to the United States, settled in New York City, married and started a family. Their daughter, Maarit Marita Moran, was born in July of 1985 in Bronx, New York. Maarit was the light of her life, and Kati excelled at motherhood.

Kati loved New York’s cultural life and found her calling in the non-profit world, working first for the New York Botanical Garden, moving to the National Academy of Design, and then to The Brooklyn Museum of Art where she was the merchandise and shop manager at the time of her death. 

The woman who spent her youth in rural Finland took naturally to her adopted city, New York, and became as savvy as any purebred New Yorker and as fervent a Yankee fan as any native. Kati loved to travel; she and Tom visited Ireland where they met Moran relatives. They journeyed to her native Finland, Belgium, Portugal, and most recently Brazil. Kati’s job took her to Peru and South Africa. Montreal became a favorite destination after Maarit enrolled in university at McGill. Kati especially loved the mid-coast of Maine, which reminded her of Finland. The family vacationed in Port Clyde every summer. Where ever she landed, Kati was fascinated with the customs and food, and returned with photos, wonderful memories and a desire to return at some time.

Finland was always in her thoughts and her heart. She introduced her family and friends to the beautiful customs of her birth country and they enjoyed sharing in her Finnish traditions. The family celebrated Christmas with an open house that featured a genuine Finnish menu prepared by Kati. She collected pottery and glassware from Finland and Sweden, old cookbooks, and textiles. Tom and Kati’s home was a charming and comfortable amalgam of Kati’s treasures. She had exquisite taste, and an intuitive way of combining objects and materials.

Kati also had a love of flowers and gardening that reflected her closeness with nature and a desire to protect the environment. She raised assorted herbs, kept them alive year round, and drew upon her herb garden for cooking. She was especially proud of some very special geranium plants that had been passed down from the Swedish Royal Court and bloomed year round under her care. This past fall, Kati planted hundreds of tulips and other bulbs in the yard of their new home anticipating spring.

Kati was the membership director and an active member of The Finnish and American Women’s Network (FAWN). Again, she actively embraced and encouraged the cultural vibrancy of New York. She greatly enjoyed the company of her Finnish compatriots.

Kati warmed and enriched the lives of all the people who knew and loved her. She will be sorely missed and never forgotten by those whose lives she touched. She leaves her husband, Dr. Thomas Michael Moran, professor of microbiology at Mount Sinai Medical Center; her beloved daughter, Maarit Moran, a recent graduate of McGill University in Montreal, her mother-in-law, Mrs. Ruth Moran, and sister-in-law, Barbara Moran of Connecticut, and many dear friends to mourn her loss.

Emails:

*Dear Tom and Maarit,
I was very sorry to hear about your wife and mother.  Tom, although I had not seen you and Kati in a very long time I always thought that you would pop up at an All Class Reunion or just stop by the house.  Clearly you and Kati were comfortable with your life in New York.  Hopefully, you and Maarit will stop by some day though.
When I first met Kati many years ago she was understandably shy and reserved.  In reading over all the wonderful remarks about her she clearly blossomed (no pun intended) in her life with my dear friend Tom.  It is a disappointment to me that I did not get to know her better.

When you are sorrowful
Look again into your heart
And you will see that you are crying
For that which has been your delight.

With love and friendship,
Shelly and Dave

August 2008

*I am very sorry to hear of your loss. My thoughts go out to Kati's friends and family.
Sincerely, Diane Saarinen

*I am so shocked!! How did that happen? I didn't have a chance to get to know her that well, I just met her at FAWN event in September. I spoke with her and her daughter that night. She was a lovely woman!
I am so sorry! With all my sympathy
Mirja Adams
Mary Kay Beauty Consultant
973-228-1133
973-568-4016
mimiadams@marykay.com

* I miss Kati already!
I first met Kati about 10 years ago when I had a work study grant at The National Academy of Design. My function was to assist her in the shop in exchange for my tuition to continue studies in fine art. I already had over 15 years of retail management under my belt but learned new business ways from Kati. She taught me about the world of ‘not for profit’ and museum buying. We had an immediate friendship. Kati and I continued to travel in similar circles even as we went to other organizations.

I recall clearly 2 years ago bumping into her at the Bryant Park craft market ‘checking out the competition’ just as I was! We often walked the tradeshows at Javits together and referred vendors to each other. Kati and I swaped emails about new products and what is happening in the museum world of gift shop buying! I hired her daughter a couple of years ago in The Shop and have rehired her this season as an assistant in The Shop @ Scandinavia House. Through Maarit, Kati’s energy and creativity lives on!

Kati’s support of my new position here at Scandinavia House prompted me to join her favorite group FAWN. The meetings and social hours afterwards were always great with Kati! I always looked forward to seeing her at the FAWN meetings. I cried the whole night after I heard she had passed.
Laura Winterhalter
Buyer/Manager
The Shop @ Scandinavia House
The American-Scandinavian Foundation
Scandinavia House: The Nordic Center in America
58 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10016

212 847 9726 p
212 686 2115 f
www.scandinaviahouse.org
www.amscan.org

*I've been in a shock since I got the sad news. This is hard to believe.
I first met Kati when she came to check us (=FAWN) out at one of our meetings. She joined FAWN right away, and me and Riitta Widen (the chairperson at that time) encouraged her to get more involved.Later on she was elected as a board member. Kati was very kind person and always ready to help. Her input in FAWN matters will be greatly missed. I also met Kati at many other Finnish events and we shared many great moments over the years.
It has been my honor knowing you, Kati.
Sincerely, Katri Saunders
FAWN fellow board member

*13.12.2007 -Surullinen uutinen saapui meille tanne Helsinkiin perjantai-iltana 7.12.2007  ja
menimme aivan shokkiin ,  en oikein pysty ymmartamaan tapahtunutta
vielakaan.
Tutustuin Katiin 37 vuotta sitten ,  jolloin nuorina tyttoina paatimme
muuttaa yhteiseen kimppakamppaan.Ensimmaiset työpaikat ja vapaus huumasivat  meidat,
elämä oli ihanaa ja villia.
Meidan yhteinen Interrail -matkamme  junalla ympari eurooppaa
oli taitekohta Katin elamassa, se aikanaan vei sitten Katin
New Yorkiin saakka.
Menimme kumpikin naimisiin, Katista tuli tyttareni Katjan kummitati,
vahan myohemmin Kati sai ihanan tyttarensa Maaritin.
Ystavyys on kestanyt kaikki nama vuodet ja olemme pitaneet
ahkerasti yhteytta ja kylailleet toistemme luona.
Olen iloinen että viime  kesana 2007 tapasimme Montrealissa,
vietimme yhdessa Kati, Tom, Maarit ja mieheni ja mina ihanan ja hauskan viikonlopun.
Kati oli niin onnellinen ja siita jai ihana viimemuisto hanesta.
On vaikeaa hellittaa, mutta Kati on aina sydamessani.
Lammolla kaivaten, ystavasi Marsa Vaarakangas ja perhe.

The sad news reached us here in Helsinki Friday night, December 7, 2007
and the news came to us as a total shock, I still can’t comprehend what has happened.
I met Kati 37 years ago when we young girls decided to become roommates
and share a room. Our first jobs and freedom dazzled us, the life was wonderful and wild.
Our shared Interrail-trip all around Europe was a turning point in Kati’s life,
and shortly after Kati was on her way to New York.
We both got married; Kati became the godmother to my daughter, Katja,
and a little later Kati got her lovely daughter, Maarit.
Our friendship has lasted all these years, and we have kept in touch regularly and
visited each other.
I’m happy that we met last summer 2007 in Montreal, and Kati, Tom and Maarit
and my husband and me great spent a wonderful and joyous weekend together.
Kati was so happy and that remains a lovely last remembrance of her.
It is difficult to let go, but Kati will always be in my heart.
We miss you with warm thoughts, your friend Marsa Vaarakangas and family

*
Our deepest condolences to the Moran family. We have fond memories of Kati who was so genuine and full of life. We are so grateful for her support of Kaiku's music and mission. She will be missed sorely.
Jaana & Paula
Kaiku (Kaikumusic.com)

*12/18/07
I just have not been able to get over this news which I just heard today! We had such a wonderful meeting the last time we met.
Kati was such an inspiration to me for our new designs……….will miss her tremendously.
I wish I had known of the funeral. I would have really liked to attend.
Kati talked so much about her daughter. Hope she is okay.
With my sincere condolences, Manjit Anandani

*January 24, 2008

At a certain period as we journey through life,  we may touch another perhaps only for a small moment in time.  Sometimes, the memory of the moment lasts much longer than the actual time spent together.
Its how it was with Kati. I remember how Kati, Gillian from Switzerland, Lars from Sweden and I, met in South Africa during a international buyers trip sponsored by the South African Government.  The small moment of time occurred in a restaurant near the Union Buildings in Pretoria, South Africa.  The four of us had such a wonderful time laughing, eating and enjoying ourselves; it was as if we had been close friends for years.
 I'm smiling now at the memory........as you can tell, for  me .....the moment will last a lifetime!

Jim Byrd, owner
Nkosi Distinctive Imported Crafts