BREMERTON — A well-known supporter of Bremerton died June 14.

H. Emily Moshay died about 10 p.m. under the care of hospice and the watchful eyes of her son and daughter.

Moshay, 84, had been ill with advanced cancer, her son Mark Moshay said.

There will be a celebration of her life on June 29. Details will be released later.

At the June 15 Bremerton City Council meeting, Mayor Patty Lent paid tribute to “H. Emily,” as she liked to be called.

Moshay had been involved in many community organizations in Bremerton since she moved to the city in 1992. She ran unsuccessfully for City Council in 1997, worked for the Bremerton Patriot in public relations from 2001-08, and was a YWCA Woman of Achievement.

Always a Bremerton cheerleader, H. Emily was known to hand out business cards with her name that proclaimed her occupation as “Bremerton Fan & Promoter.”

Moshay was profiled by correspondent Sandy McKay in the Aug. 22, 2014 Bremerton Patriot.

Here is the text from that story, “H. Emily Moshay: A community mainstay”:

For more than seven years, H. Emily Moshay wrote for the Bremerton Patriot. Her well-known and widely-read articles, published on the average of twice a week, were features that made her readers aware of people who would not otherwise have received recognition.

Her writing was enhanced by the photos she took — more than 2,000 of them — snapshots of people and places that would have otherwise gone unnoticed.

“I’ve always loved to write and take pictures,” Moshay said. “And before I wrote for the Patriot I wrote a lot of letters to the editor. It was a passion for me … I impressed myself.”

For her, it was a chance to promote change on her own terms. “I could pick and choose what I wanted to write about … any job … school children … you name it. I made myself aware of what was going on in the community.”

When asked if she remembered how many articles she had written, she replied with a laugh, “Oh, heavens no!” And the “H”? That will remain a mystery to the public, she says, chuckling.

Moshay fell into the writing job while working at the Bremerton Chamber of Commerce where she had the job of registering new members. The Patriot office, at the time, was right next door and the staff took notice of what she was doing. She went right to work on a journalistic basis.

“They were very pleased with me,” she recalled. “And I was very pleased with everything I’ve ever written. When I was writing I was very outspoken, I’ve calmed down since then …”

She has always used a typewriter in her work, not a computer. She never learned to use the new technology. Sometimes, she said, the old ways are best.

Through the years, because of her journalism, her participation in civic affairs and her extensive, unselfish volunteerism, Moshay has been a mainstay of the community. As time permitted and circumstances arose, she volunteered her efforts for anything and everything that would prove beneficial for the area.

Volunteerism has always been a top priority for Moshay. “I like to find reasons to help people,” she said. “I like the feeling that somebody needs me. I volunteer for everything. If somebody has a need I can take care of that’s what I like to do.”

Moshay and Linda Joyce, past director of the YWCA, have become fast friends. They combine their efforts on projects like Evergreen Park.

“I have absolutely been blown away with the money she has raised for the park, a project we have worked on for years,” Moshay said.

Moshay has won several awards, including Story of the Year, Woman of the Year, Women of Achievement (YWCA), Unsung Hero (Bremerton Sun), and Citizen of the Year (Bremerton Law Enforcement).

Other special recognitions include Volunteer of the Year (Kitsap Community Resources), two Certificate Awards for Outstanding Performance, Employee of the Year, and Group Employees awards. The latter four citations were from KCAP. In addition, in 2004, she received a Citizen’s Academy Certificate of Completion (Bremerton Police Department) and the Mayor’s Appreciation Award signed by then-mayor Cary Bozeman.

In a letter sent to Moshay in 2003, Mayor Bozeman thanked her “for her wonderful efforts on behalf of Positively Bremerton.”  “Wow, what a powerful idea,” he added, “actually organizing a group of people. Lord knows there are plenty of the other kind.”

Her community affiliations are eclectic: the Bremerton Planning Commission, the Bremerton Mural Project Committee, the Kitsap Mental Health Foundation board, the YWCA board, Christmas in April, the NAACP, the MLK Foundation, Swing City, the Bremerton Chamber of Commerce, the Positively Bremerton and Main Street Associations.

For a time, she published a monthly newsletter for Kitsap Community Resources.

In a community columnist article written by Bob Dietz, then-head of the English and Humanities Department at Olympic College, [Dietz] praised Moshay by calling her the “Queen Mother of Positive Bremerton.”

Born in Childress, Texas on June 29, 1931, Moshay attended public school there, and was 16 when she graduated. Not that she was so smart, she said; she just couldn’t wait to get out of school.

She went to college for a short while, but didn’t finish her higher education. Instead, she worked as a waitress in Lubbock and as a secretary in Amarillo. She also worked in the educational program Head Start for five years in Bremerton.

“I worked with children, and worked as an advocate for them,” Moshay said. “I typed up everything and stayed in close contact with their parents. “It was a dream job for me,” she added. “I really loved it.”

When she moved into her small, older west Bremerton home in 1991, she became a fixer-upper.

It didn’t take her long to repaint the house; it had previously been an ugly green, then red. Her color selection was yellow, and that is fine with her. She revamped the yard and has kept it neat. This has been a “contagious” development. As a result, some of her neighbors have remodeled their homes and spruced up their yards.

She has been very pleased with her personal efforts. “I love my home and wouldn’t change it for anything,” she said.

Moshay is a widow and has two children — Mark and Julie, three grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. Her family is important to her. “They’re spread out all over, but we do keep in touch,” she said.

Her personal life is busy. In addition to her ongoing volunteerism, she enjoys gardening and being outdoors. As for reading, she is lost without her newspaper. She isn’t an avid reader, however. If she’s interested in a book, she always reads the last chapter first.

“If I don’t like the way the book ends I don’t read it,” she said. “I do like short love stories but haven’t read one in awhile.”

She enjoys all kinds of music, especially Western, and watches Wheel of Fortune, no matter what.

As for traveling, a change of scenery is never on her agenda.

“From Bremerton to Silverdale is just enough,” she said. “There’s enough to keep me busy in Bremerton.”

She is content and comfortable where she is, with her cats, Kitty Number One and Kitty Number Two, doing what she’s doing.

“I believe in doing the best thing that you can for others, not just yourself,” she said. “Since I have been in Bremerton it has made me happy to help people.”