Denise Moles

Mary Denise Moles, 71, passed away peacefully surrounded by family on February 19, 2026. A celebration of her life will be held at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Los Gatos on Saturday, March 21, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. All who knew her are welcome to attend the Mass, followed by a short catered reception at Howley Hall Gymnasium immediately after.

Denise was born on August 10, 1954, at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska, to Marie and Ray Crouse during Ray’s service in the United States Air Force. While she was still young, her family moved to Denver, Colorado, where she spent much of her childhood in the Rocky Mountains. Those early years surrounded by nature helped shape a lifelong love for animals, ranching, and travel.

Denise briefly attended Colorado State University before again relocating with family to the Bay Area and finishing her degree at San Jose State University. During a summer trip with her sisters to Santa Cruz, California, she met her future husband on Twin Lakes Beach. California would become the place she ultimately called home and where she raised her family. Denise was the proud mother of five sons: Christopher, Justin, Erik, Thomas, and Ryan Moles.

In her later years, Denise fulfilled a longtime dream by founding Ocean View Ranch in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The ranch grew into a thriving family-run alpaca farm where Denise raised and cared for more than one hundred alpacas. Ocean View Ranch specialized in breeding, showing, and producing high-quality alpaca fiber, supplying wool and fiber products to manufacturers and artisans throughout Northern California and the Lake Tahoe region. The ranch also raised purebred Basset Hounds and Great Pyrenees, placing puppies with families and working homes throughout the region, as well providing Great Pyrenees puppies to certain Hollywood projects like the Disney film “The Search for Santa Paws,” and subsequent sequels.

Throughout her life, Denise remained a devoted member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Los Gatos and maintained deep connections to the Los Gatos community, even while living for periods of time in Peapack-Gladstone, New Jersey; Santa Cruz, California; Incline Village, Nevada; and most recently Dana Point, California.

Denise is survived by her mother, Marie Crouse; her sisters Diane Crouse, Suzy Goetz, Kathy Richards, and Debbie Migliore; her five sons; her daughters-in-law Jessica, Natalie, and Kelsi; and her nine grandchildren: Luke, Gwenyth, Jayden, William, Chloe, Paige, Weston, Savannah, and Wyatt. Wyatt was born only seven days before Denise’s passing, and she had the joy of helping choose his name.

Denise was a devoted mother, a proud grandmother, and a woman of great faith. She believed strongly in family, community, and the responsibility to care for others. She enjoyed traveling, hosting gatherings, and bringing people together. She will be remembered for her devotion to friends, her warmth, her strength, her love of animals, and most importantly, her deep and unyielding love for her children and grandchildren.

Her family encourages those who knew Denise to share their memories and stories of her and to keep her in their thoughts and prayers.