ROBERT MOSBACHER Sr.

MOSBACHER--Robert Adam Sr., Twenty Eighth United States Secretary of Commerce in the Administration of President George H.W. Bush, an accomplished oilman and industry leader, and a champion amateur sailor, died on Sunday, the 24th of January 2010, of cancer at the age of 82. Bob was born in Mt. Vernon, NY on March 11, 1927 to Emil and Gertrude Mosbacher and was the youngest of three children. He grew up in White Plains, NY before moving to Texas in 1948. He graduated from the Choate School in Wallingford, CT and Washington and Lee University. At a very early age, he established himself as one of the premier competitive sailors on Long Island Sound winning the 1939 Long Island Sound Midget Sailing Championship, and the 1941 and 42 Long Island Sound Atlantic Class Championships. He went on to amass a number of national and international titles. He was the only amateur sailor to win World Championships in three different Olympic classes. His sailing exploits and those of his brother, Bus, earned them a joint photo on the cover of the May 19, 1959 issue of Sports Illustrated. At the age of 21, and on the advice of his father, Bob moved to Houston with his first wife, Jane Pennybacker, to build an independent oil and gas company. The next decade would bring four wonderful children - Diane, Robert Jr., Kathryn, and Lisa. However, tragedy struck when his beloved Jane succumbed to leukemia in 1970. In the meantime, Bob built a highly successful energy exploration and production company with interests primarily in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. At different times over the past 50 years, the company has had profitable investments in the Rocky Mountains, Michigan, Canada, Spain, the Philippines, Venezuela, India, and more. Since 1950, Mosbacher has participated in the discovery and/or development of hundreds of millions of barrels of oil, and almost a trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The business has had the good fortune of a very dedicated and loyal group of employees who have shared in the successes, as well as the disappointments over the years. Bob is deeply grateful to his Mosbacher Energy family, both past and present, for their support. His decades of oil and gas experience, coupled with his astute business judgment, led others to seek his counsel, resulting in his heading a host of industry organizations including the National Petroleum Council, The All-American Wildcatters' Association, the U.S. Oil and Gas Association and others. Bob was long considered a consummate dealmaker who was always willing to take risk, but within acceptable parameters. Out of a deep desire to give something back to his country, he got involved in elective politics in the 1960's. Although he served as Harris County Chairman of the 1968 Nixon Campaign, it was his loyal friendship with, and devoted support of George H. W. Bush that would lead him to the national political stage. In fact, Mosbacher managed the national fundraising operations for five different GOP presidential campaigns - from Gerald Ford in 1976 to John McCain in 2008. He was regarded by friend and foe alike as one of the most effective political fundraisers in modern history, partly because of the respect he commanded as a business leader, and because he never asked others to support a candidate or cause he was not supporting actively himself. Following the 1988 election, he was asked by then President-elect George H.W. Bush to join his Cabinet as the 28th U.S. Secretary of Commerce. He was honored by the opportunity to serve his country and on February 3, 1989, he was sworn in by his close friend, Secretary of State James A. Baker, III, with President Bush looking on. His principal accomplishments while at the helm of the Commerce Department from 1989 until early 1992 included laying the foundation for the North American Free Trade Agreement, helping shrink America's trade deficit with Japan and South Korea, and aggressively promoting U.S. exports through the strengthening of the U.S. Foreign and Commercial Service of the Commerce Department. His role in helping negotiate NAFTA prompted Mexican President Ernest Zedillo to present Mosbacher with the "Order of the Aztec Eagle," the highest decoration offered by the Mexican Government to non-citizens. He was particularly proud later in life to have served as Chairman of the Americas Society and Council of the Americas; on the board of the Naval Academy Endowment; and as founder and president of the board of the Odyssey Academy Charter School in Galveston. Just recently, he was honored to learn that the Robert A. Mosbacher, Sr. Institute for Trade, Economics and Public Policy is being created within the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University. Bob had a quick, warm smile, a wonderful sense of humor, and a fun-loving way about him that was contagious. He was deeply devoted to his family and felt that he was one of the luckiest men in the world to have been mentored by his father "Pop" along with respected business friend Max Fisher, and to have lived such an incredible life with a family he adored and friends like fellow oilman Chesley Pruet and his dear friend and lawyer, Randy Smith. His survivors include his wife of ten years, Michele "Mica" Mosbacher; sister Barbara Susan Mosbacher; daughter Diane and her spouse Nanette Gartrell; son Rob; daughter Kathi and her spouse Michael Wheeler; daughter Lisa and her spouse Downing Mears; grandchildren Peter (and wife Lucy), Jane, and Meredith Mosbacher, Parker, Whitney (and wife Katie), and Bayly Mears; stepson Donald Cameron Duncan III and his spouse Brittanie Hoster Duncan; stepsons Robert and Lloyd Gerry; a step-grandchild; as well as numerous nephews and cousins. His older brother, Emil "Bus" Mosbacher, passed away in 1997. Services in Houston are with Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, The Funeral Directors Since 1936, www.geohlewis.com, 713-789-3005. A celebration of Bob's life is to be conducted at 10am on Wednesday, January 27, at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church, 11612 Memorial Dr. in Houston, TX. In lieu of customary remembrances, donations may be sent to the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (mdanderson.org), the newly created Mosbacher Institute at the Bush School at Texas A&M University (http://bush.tamu.edu/mosbacher/memorial), or the Odyssey Academy Charter School in Galveston (odyssey-academy.com).