Frances Octavie Mosimann

Frances Octavie (Tanchie) Mosimann, ninety-five years of age, died peacefully on June 1, 2014 at the Little Sisters of the Poor in Washington, DC , where she was a resident for three years. The relatives and friends of Frances Octavie Mosimann are invited to attend her Mass of Christian Burial at 10:00 AM Monday, June 9, 2014, from the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, 120 Broad Street, Charleston. The Rite of Committal will follow at St. Lawrence Cemetery. Online condolences may be offered at www.JamesAMcAlister.com. Octavie was born in Charleston to Thomas Francis Mosimann, principal of Charleston High School, and Elise deVineau Mosimann, choir director and organist at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. She was one of eight children, six of whom were well-educated and independent women. She is survived by her brother, James Emile Mosimann of Gainesville, VA and numerous nieces and nephews. Miss Mosimann graduated from the College of Charleston with a degree in history. During the war years, she was employed by the Veterans Administration in Washington, DC and New York. Returning to Charleston, she worked in advertising at the Post and Courier, then as secretary in the supervisor's office at Roper Hospital. She was an active member of the Charleston Business and Professional Women, of which she served as president. Her long and faithful service to the Catholic Church began in Charleston in February 1957, when she went to work for the Diocese of Charleston, and where she served under four bishops. Notably, Joseph L. Bernardin was chancellor. When Bernardin became General Secretary to the U.S. Bishops Conference in Washington, DC, he asked that she move to his office there. She went on to Cincinnati when Bernardin became the archbishop of Cincinnati in 1972, and then, despite her love for the Cincinnati Reds, to Chicago where Bernardin was made Cardinal. As Executive Secretary to Cardinal Bernadin, Octavie was known for a "rare gift of discretion" that was tempered by an "unfailing pleasantness," yet she bristled when addressed with the familiar "Tanchie" by unfamiliar visitors. She retired from her position in July 1991, but remained close to church activities in Chicago and to the Cardinal and his family until his death in 1996. While in Chicago, she was the Cardinal's liaison to the International Order of the Little Sisters of the Poor--a position of which she was very proud. Then Octavie returned to Washington where most of her surviving siblings now lived, and she spent her final years in the loving care of the Little Sisters. In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to the Little Sisters of the Poor, 4200 Harewood Road, NE, Washington, DC 20017.