Herbert Charles Moessing, May 12, 1937 - February 27, 2024
After a years-long wrestle with Alzheimer’s disease, Herbert Charles Moessing died peacefully on the morning of February 27 surrounded by family.
Herb was born in Chicago, IL on May 12, 1937 to Sarah Farrell and Herbert Gerhard Moessing. He grew up in north Chicago with happy summers spent at Turner Camp near the Wisconsin border. He attended Lane Tech High School and received a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Wisconsin. He married Kathleen McCoy in August 1967 and together they gave their best efforts to teach, champion, and nurture their beloved family. Kathleen has been Herb’s constant support, especially during the recent years of increased needs.
Herb charted the course of his professional career in a way that allowed for travel, learning, and adventure. In 1962 he began working as an engineer, and eventually a job with Bechtel took him to Salt Lake City where he met Kathleen. When he got wind of a co-worker’s gold mining expedition to Ecuador, he jumped on board for an international road trip, and long-distance courtship. After returning to the US, he married Kathleen in 1967 and they moved to San Francisco. There Herb made his mark working with IBM, but when wanderlust struck again, he went to “Hamburger U” and opened one of the first McDonald’s in Wyoming. The family spent nine years in Sheridan, and by the time they returned to the Bay Area, they had a busy family of four children. From that point on, Herb worked primarily as a broker and owner of real estate, tackling projects that others had given up on and turning them into profitable ventures. True to form, throughout all of these career turns, he involved his family – from flipping burgers to prepping apartments for rent. He was a consummate mentor, and the family was never simply along for the ride, they were enrolled in a life-long apprenticeship.
Herb valued hard work and learning, and would do anything to help his children develop life skills that would allow them to pursue adventures of their own. Among his great joys were: taking marathon-length walks through city streets; tossing the baseball around with family and his “Walnut Creakers” baseball team; tackling projects around the house and yard that put his engineering talent to use; and traveling to exotic corners of the world with his family – exploring a grand total of 69 countries! Despite being afraid of heights and over 60, Herb took pleasure and pride in twice joining sons in summiting Mt Kilimanjaro. As a youth he was a proficient accordion player, and he continued to appreciate music throughout his life. He was diligent in church assignments and was also committed to many unheralded service projects to which he assigned himself. He loved Kathleen’s cooking, Costco, and Kenya. Above all, he loved his family, passionately supporting his children and delighting in his grandchildren’s accomplishments.
Herb was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by his wife Kathleen, his children Greg (Connie), Teresa (Chris Williams), Eric (Jamie), and Layne (Jennifer), 14 grand and one great grandchild. He is also survived by his sisters Elaine Elliott and Lavern Coffey.
A memorial service will be held at 10 AM on Saturday, March 9, 2024, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2369 Overlook Drive, Walnut Creek, CA.
