Robert Moss

Robert "Bob" Moss
June 8, 1941 -- August 31, 2020
Sharing a love for sailing and adventure, Bob and Sue Moss spent three of their happiest years at sea. On a sailboat named Ceres, they explored the Mediterranean Sea together with their daughter (ages 1-4), each day setting off for a new, alluring destination. This was early in their relationship, and they had every reason to expect a long, happy life together. By all counts, this is exactly what they achieved.

Robert Warren Moss's life began on June 8, 1941, in Detroit. He was an only child, and he carried an intellectual, self-contented temperament throughout his years, always finding joy in simplicity. Bob studied Economics, receiving a Bachelor's in 1962 from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, a Master's in 1964 from American University in Washington, D.C., followed by a two year OECD fellowship in Europe and India.

He and his wife of 52 years, Sue (Heylar) Moss, were married in 1968 in Washington, D.C. after Bob finished his work on the Kerner Commission looking into the Detroit race riots. Within four months of meeting, they were married. After their time at sea, they returned to the U.S., and from 1975 until 2013, lived in Seattle, where they raised their two children, Karyn and David. Bob enjoyed a successful career as head of RW Moss and Associates, a forensic economics firm. With his family, he sailed the waters of Puget Sound, the San Juan Islands, and internationally while he and Sue also traveled the world by land. Eventually, they settled in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2013, following Bob's diagnosis with Parkinson's.


Bob was known for bringing people together. There was always plenty of room at his table, and he will be remembered for his loving dedication to keeping his extended family as close as his own wife and children.

Bob exited the world on August 31, 2020, at his home in Oakland, California. A vocal advocate for laws supporting physician-assisted dying, Bob's passing aligned with his approach to living. He was a pragmatist and a planner -- the type who knew that it was time to gather up the sails when the wind can't carry you further.

Bob's memory will live on with his wife, Sue, his son and daughter-in-law, David and Lily Moss (of Federal Way, Washington), his daughter Karyn Veneklasen, her husband Noah (of Oakland, California), and his precious grandchildren, Lily 13 and Parker 10.

Remembrances in Bob's memory can be made to Doctors Without Borders.