As director of public relations at Morehouse College, Toni O’Neal Mosley knew the power of planting a seed in the life of her friends, family, colleagues and students.
“Toni will always be with us because she gave so much to so many people,” said her friend Rori Blakeney.
Mosley “was clearly great at what she did,” said Dr. John Silvanus Wilson Jr., president of Morehouse College, who remembers presenting her with the PR challenge of hosting President Barack Obama on campus.
“We had to get it right,” said Wilson. “She got it right over and over again, and I thank her for it.”
A graduate of Clark College, now Clark Atlanta University, Mosley served as press secretary to congressman Newt Gingrich from 1980 to 1985.
“To be a black woman from Georgia, moving to Washington to work for a Republican in 1979, it took a great sense of courage,” said Blakeney. “She was able to hold her own and that’s the type of person Toni was.”
From 1988 to 1999 Mosley was director of university relations at Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta. During her 11-year tenure at Clark Atlanta, her major accomplishments included creating the university’s visual identity program, founding Clark Atlanta Magazine and providing leadership for all of the institution’s marketing initiatives, including its participation in the 1996 Summer Olympic Games.
Mosley joined the staff at Morehouse in 1999 and served on the President’s Cabinet, Executive Leadership Council and key college committees and as executive editor of the college’s magazine.
“The memory and impact of her personal and professional strength will live on forever at Morehouse College,” said Wilson.
“She made it look effortless,” added her friend Maria Henry Bryson.
Toni O’Neal Mosley, of Marietta died Wednesday of cancer. She was 57. A funeral will be held 11 a.m. Dec. 16 at Central United Methodist Church, 501 Mitchell St. N.W., Atlanta. Murray Brothers Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
“I was always very proud of her,” said her mother, Dr. Anita O’Neal. “She made me feel I was one of the most important things in her life. She loved me unconditionally.”
Mosley enjoyed fashion and shopping and could make great spaghetti. “Girlfriend was sharp every day, impeccable,” said Henry Bryson.
She loved the movie, “The Wizard of Oz.” Mosley celebrated her last birthday Sept. 6, and Bryson found ruby slippers in Mosley’s size and had them shipped overnight to Georgia just in time.
“I wanted her to have them because she could click her heels three times and always find her way home,” said Henry Bryson.
In addition to her mother Mosley is survived by daughters Jasmine Mosley, Tia Mosley, Tameria Mosley, and brothers William Wright and Franklin O’Neal Jr.
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