Dennis J. Moberg

Dr. Dennis J. Moberg died on May 31 at his home in Ben Lomond surrounded by family after a 13- year struggle with cancer. His final hours were filled with the Tchaikovsky music he loved and the words of the 23rd Psalm. He is survived by his wife Kathleen, his children, Carl (Kellie), Chris (Thu), and Annie (Justin), and their families. His parents, Don and Gladys Moberg, his sister, Marilyn, brother, Don, and golden retriever companion, Mac, preceded him in death. He grew up in the Chicago area and earned his first college degree at the University of Wisconsin and then an MBA at the University of South Dakota. He moved west, attending the University of Southern California for his doctorate. He began his teaching career at Whittier College and continued at the University of Oregon before devoting almost 40 years to the business school at Santa Clara University where he won countless teaching awards. His passion for teaching carried over into his personal life, where he was always ready to advise and offer a "teaching moment" to his children. On several occasions he was asked to step away from the classroom to serve in executive positions with the university's Markkula Center for Applied Ethics and with the Ignatian Center. Dennis also mentored students and new faculty, and guided his wife as she advanced in her administrative career..His academic specialty was business ethics, and his focus was practical wisdom — deciding on a moral course of action and influencing others to support it. He published or edited eight books and over thirty scholarly papers on the subject. For that work he was elected president of the Society for Business Ethics, and was awarded an Endowed Chair as Presidential Professor of Ethics and the Common Good at Santa Clara. .Dennis was family-centric and very proud of his children and their achievements. He and Kathleen took multiple family vacations with their kids, often with a historic or regionally interesting focus. They coached little league and youth soccer, and Dennis tutored in their classes. He spent countless hours playing "the behind-me game" in the family pool, organizing water balloon fights, and creating other fun activities for the kids and their friends. He had a mischievous side and was known for his joking and teasing.Some of his crowning family achievements were building a tree house for his granddaughters and creating beautiful masonry walls on the family's redwood-studded property. His joys included masonry, carpentry, gardening, classic movies—especially Alfred Hitchcock and Film Noir—, Impressionist art, theater, and Classical music. He was a life-long fan of the Chicago Cubs, the Wisconsin Badgers, and virtually any underdog. . Dennis loved cooking for his family and spent hours creating family feasts that often boasted an impressive artisan cheese board. There was always something good cooking on the stove, often a warming pot of homemade chicken broth. Dennis's culinary talents were legendary among family and friends, and his grateful wife rarely cooked dinner in their 38 years of marriage. Their annual veggie garden supplied many seasonal treats and too many tomatoes. Dennis leaves a legacy of service to his profession and loyalty and love for his family..