Shirolyn Ruth Moffett, M.D., died in her home on Monday, August 22 after a long and courageous fight against multiple myeloma, a form of bone marrow cancer, at age 64. She was surrounded by her family.
Dr. Moffett was born on October 17, 1951, in Austin, Texas, to Jesse Robert Moffett, an agronomist from Dilley, Texas, and Carolyn Griffith Moffett, a special education teacher from Grand Cane, La. She and her younger siblings Theo, Jesse, and Genie grew up in Latin America, where their father worked for the U.S. Peace Corps and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Shirolyn graduated with a degree in education from Texas A&M in 1973. Over the next 15 years she and her husband Jeffrey Allen, her high school sweetheart, raised their four children in Arkansas and in Latin America, where Jeffrey worked as a Foreign Service Officer for USAID, following his beloved father-in-law’s example.
Shirolyn heard the calling to be a doctor from a young age. Growing up she performed “surgery” on her younger siblings, and her childhood teddy bear was criss-crossed with practice stitches. She was fascinated with biology, and filled the family home in Belize with specimens of sea life preserved in formaldehyde.
Inspired to study obstetrics by her own and her sisters’ pregnancies, she became a midwife while living in Guatemala. After moving her family to Arkansas in 1987, she realized she wanted to help others on a broader scale than midwifery allowed. So, at age 38, she studied for and was accepted into medical school.
In 1994 she graduated with honors from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Over the next 18 years, Dr. Moffett lovingly served patients in Fort Smith, Harrison, Berryville and Eureka Springs, delivering thousands of babies across the region (including four of her own grandchildren).
Dr. Moffett’s life was dedicated to service: service to the community through her profession as a doctor and midwife, and to her extensive network of friends and family through her support, her love, and her positive energy. To her patients she was known for her reflective listening, compassionate heart, and keen scientific mind that drove her to find underlying causes of their ailments, not just address symptoms.
To friends and family, Shirolyn was best known for her kindness, appreciation of all things beautiful, endless optimism, and unconditional love for those around her – all values that she instilled in her children.
She was a lover of nature, particularly fond of kayaking on the Buffalo River and taking walks with family. Her endless curiosity influenced her to travel and explore new places; she always had a new book to recommend in the hope that others would be inspired as she had been. She played the cello and filled her home with artwork that reflected her own appreciation for beauty and life.
She will also be remembered for her exceptional courage. The same courage that enabled her to enter medical school as a 38-year-old single mother of four also helped her fight cancer on her own terms despite considerable challenges.
Dr. Moffett is survived by her husband, Jeffrey Allen; mother, Carolyn Moffett; sisters Theo Lane Moffett and Genie Moffett Dudley; children, Genie Allen and Gary Gross; Samuel Allen and Vanessa Orlando Allen; Sara Allen Gibbs and Joshua Gibbs; Leah Allen and Joe Donahue; and grandchildren, Maya and Rowan Allen, Jeffrey and John Gibbs, and James Donahue.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016 at the First United Methodist Church of Harrison. Memorials in Dr. Moffett’s name can be made to Sanctuary of Harrison (PO Box 762, Harrison, AR 72602) or to the Boone County Library. On-line condolences may be left at coffmanfh.com