William F. "Bill" Moseley

1936 - 2020

William F. "Bill" Moseley

May 25, 1936 - March 21, 2020

William F. "Bill" Moseley, father, naturalist, and civil engineer passed away peacefully, on March 21st at home in Oakland CA at the age of 83. Bill was a beloved member of the community.

Bill was born on May 25, 1936 in Bay Village near Cleveland, Ohio, to Marian and Harry Moseley. He graduated from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY in Civil Engineering in l959. During his college years at Cornell, he was on the Varsity Lightweight Crew team, where he rowed stroke oar and was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity. Bill served in Okinawa, Japan, as an officer in the Navy Construction Battalion ("Sea Bees"). After returning from active service, Bill attended Stanford University where he received a Master's Degree in Construction Engineering in l963.

Bill married Laura Bliven in 1964 and they settled in Oakland where they raised their two sons. Bill's fifty-five-year engineering career began with Scott Company in the Bay Area. Later, he was a founding partner of Marelich Mechanical. He worked on major Bay Area projects including the Moscone Center, Asian Art Museum, Kaiser Hospital, and the Market Street BART stations among others.

Bill had a lifetime interest in nature and the outdoors since his childhood. West Marin became a focus of civic and family life. On weekends at his Inverness home on Tomales Bay, Bill relished canoeing and sailing, and hiking excursions at the Point Reyes National Seashore with friends and family. Bill enjoyed keeping a journal in a growing collection of tidelogs, noting rain fall, bird and wildlife sightings, along with observations of life on the marsh. Among his prized possessions were birding binoculars, an antique surveying scope and a pair of well-worn hiking boots.

He was Commodore of the Inverness Yacht Club in 1987, and later the port captain which he enjoyed. Bill established a scholarship for the IYC Youth Sailing Program, in memory of his late wife, Laura Blevin Moseley. In 2011, Bill served on the Board of Directors of the Inverness Association. He enjoyed a full life including sailing, tennis, and travel.

His last years were hampered by dementia. He is survived by their two sons, Ben Moseley and David Moseley and daughter in-laws Helena Russell and Sonja Wiedenhaupt, grandson Emmett Russell Moseley, his brother Harry H. Moseley of Milwaukee, WI, sister Jane Moseley Peck of Worcester, MA and their families.

In Bill's memory, donations may be made to Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT), The Sierra Club, The Nature Conservancy, The Audubon Society, or Point Reyes National Seashore Association. A memorial celebration will be planned when we can safely gather.