Bob Vance Moulder

Bob Vance Moulder of Ridgeland, age 82, died Wednesday, November 4, 2009, at home in his apartment at The Waterford in Ridgeland, MS.
Visitation will be at Wright & Ferguson Funeral Home in Jackson on Sunday, November 8, 2009, from 2:00 pm until 5:00 pm and on Monday morning, November 9, 2009, from 10:00 am until 10:45 am. Services will be held at the funeral home chapel at 11:00 with the Reverend Robert C. Lane, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Madison, officiating, with a special prayer by the Reverend R. David Moulder of Hastings, Minnesota, and eulogy by Patricia Moulder Street of Haltom City, Texas and H. T. DeKay of Starkville.
On the back cover of the first two books Bob authored, he described himself in this manner: "Bob Vance Moulder is a Mississippian by birth, a Southerner by preference, an American by the Grace of God, a writer by temperament, a vagabond by choice, and a confirmed optimist because he doesn't know how to be anything else. When he is not traveling across this country he loves with a passion, or enjoying his hobby of wildlife photography, he resides in Ridgeland, Mississippi."
Bob was born in the tiny rural community of Lorena, Mississippi, the son of Bartley and Louvenia Moulder, and the grandson of the Reverend and Mrs. D. W. Moulder and Mr. and Mrs. Levi Jasper Husbands.
He was graduated from Forest High School, the Southwest Photo-Arts Institute, and attended both the University of Southern Mississippi and Mississippi State University. He was a journalist for eight years, serving as a reporter/photographer for the Clarion-Ledger, Jackson Daily News, State Times and the Birmingham (AL) News. He was director of public information at Mississippi State University for 20 years, and retired a second time as senior vice president for communications at Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi. He served in the Navy during World War II and was stationed in the Philippines.
Bob's stories and photographs have been published in many national magazines including Reader's Digest, Look, Life, Progressive Farmer and Ford Times. A documentary on "Careers in Horticulture" he wrote and filmed while at Mississippi State, won an international award. He self-published three photo books: "Shrines to Yesterday," "Shrines to Tomorrow," and "Shrines to Valor." Three of his books, "Kudzu, Homebrew and Dinner on the Ground," "Hot Flashes, Swollen Ankles and Sore Breasts - And I'm a Man," and "Monday is a Good Day for Dreamers," were published in 2004, 2006 and 2009. For four years, he wrote a column, "Senior Ramblings," for the Madison County Herald in Ridgeland.
He served as picture editor, and supplied many photographs, for the two-volume "History of Mississippi."
He is survived by a son, R David Moulder of Hastings, Minnesota; a daughter, Patricia Moulder Street (Steve) of Haltom City, Texas; one grandson, J. Bartley Moulder (Randi) and a great-grandson, Layne Robert Moulder of Hastings, Minnesota; a brother, B. Jerry Moulder (Carolyn) of Pascagoula; two nieces, Leah Moulder of Pascagoula and Toni Kraft (Steve) of Moss Point; one nephew, Mark Moulder of Pascagoula; and a loving and dear friend, Cecilia E. Baker, of Ridgeland.
Pallbearers are Bartley Moulder, Steve Street, Steve Kraft, and Mark Moulder.
Special honorary pallbearers are H. T. DeKay, Aaron Johnston, Tom Joynt and Ken Barlow.
Along with floral tributes, donations may also be made to the American Cancer Society directly or through the First Presbyterian Church of Madison.