William Brian Moran; Longtime County Resident

Longtime Ventura County resident William Brian Moran died Monday on his 99th birthday.

Moran was born Dec. 28, 1899, in Ireland, and lived and worked there and in England until he moved with his brother to the United States in 1925.

“Life was hard in Ireland,” said daughter Kathleen Tully of Camarillo. “There wasn’t enough money. They decided to come here to see what life in the United States would hold for them.”

The brothers first lived in Cleveland, but eventually moved to New York City. It was there that Moran went on a blind date and met Catherine Rahill, also an immigrant from Ireland. Their courtship lasted for four years, before the two were married on Sept. 8, 1934.

During the Great Depression, Moran had trouble finding work in New York. Hearing that it would be easier to get a job in Chicago, he soon moved there with his wife and three children.

In Chicago, Moran worked as an electrician for the Chicago Transit Authority and had three more children.

The family lived in Illinois until 1969, when a visit to Tully in Southern California convinced the couple to move west.

“They thought this was a wonderful place to live because the hills were green,” said Tully, 54.

They packed up and moved to Simi Valley, where Moran was a member of the Knights of Columbus. In 1990, the couple moved to Ojai to live at St. Joseph’s Health and Retirement Center.

Moran enjoyed doing crossword puzzles and writing poetry.

“He only had a sixth-grade education but he never stopped learning,” Tully said. “He had a tremendous understanding of the English language.”

Moran is survived by his wife, now 94, daughters Tully of Camarillo, Mary Hallihan of Illinois and Ann Moran Latimer of Illinois; sons Patrick Moran of Simi Valley, William Moran of Illinois and Michael Moran of Illinois; and 24 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

He is preceded in death by a granddaughter, Beatrice Moran.

Visitation with the family will be held at 10 a.m. today followed by a funeral Mass at 11 a.m. at St. Joseph’s Health and Retirement Center, 2464 E. Ojai Ave., Ojai.

Arrangements are being handled by Joseph P. Reardon Funeral Home in Ventura.