James Moser

MADISON - James "Jim" Moser, age 81, passed away peacefully on Thursday, August 8, 2013 at Agrace HospiceCare.
Jim is survived by his brother Kenneth and sisters Patricia and Rhoda; by his son, Mike (Anne); son, Joe; daughter Kathleen Eckelkamp (Vince); and five granddaughters, Colleen, Jessa, Marla and Macey Moser and Kallie Eckelkamp. He was preceded in death by his wife of almost 50 years Mary K. Moser; and by his parents.
Jim was born on December 20th, 1931, in Lynbrook, Long Island, New York, the son of Kenneth and Agnes (Magnor) Moser. As a boy growing up he worked hard as a landscaper and enjoyed summers at Long Island's famous Jones Beach. He showed an early aptitude for learning that foreshadowed his long career as an educator. At Regis High School in Manhattan, NY, he earned the nickname "Cactus Jim" for stubbornly wearing his cowboy boots to school every day.
After graduation in 1949, Jim enlisted in ROTC while attending Villanova University. He graduated in 1953 with a B.S.in Mathematics Education. He served in the U.S. Navy and Naval Reserves until 1962 reaching the rank of Lieutenant. After college he became a high school math teacher in the Royal Oak, MI area. Jim had a lifelong love for travel and took his first overseas sabbatical in the late 1950's to teach for two years at U.S. Army high schools in Frankfurt, Germany and Paris, France. In his spare time he earned a Master's degree from the University of Michigan in Educational Administration.
Jim met and fell in love with Mary K. Keating and after a long year apart they were married on August 18, 1962, in Detroit. They soon moved to Boulder, CO where Jim earned a Ph.D. in Mathematics Education and quickly rose to become an associate faculty member at the University of Colorado. Three children were born in Colorado after which the young family moved to Madison in 1969 for a one year temporary appointment at the University of Wisconsin-Madison that lasted a lifetime.
At the UW Education Research and Development Center during the 1970's Jim helped pioneer elementary school educational methods so revolutionary that he was selected as one of the first Americans to enter communist China just 3 months after Pres. Nixon in 1976. He published extensively, including Connections, a math textbook series that was used by 40 million primary school students nationwide. The entire family joined him on another sabbatical in Paris during 1983.
Late in his career Jim spent a decade putting his ideas into practice at the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction until his retirement in 1993. Jim and Mary K. traveled the world during retirement, visiting New Zealand, Australia, Alaska, Europe, South and Central America, China, Japan, and Kenya, making friends around the world. Jim was an early booster of youth soccer in Madison as secretary of MAYSA in the early 1970's fighting to get the very first set of goalposts installed at a local park.
Jim was a spiritual man and he and Mary K. joined the Queen of Peace Community soon after arriving in Madison. "Community" remained an integral part of their lives for the next 45 years. He was progressive and respectfully listened to every side and showed his patriotism during retirement as a poll worker in his Nakoma neighborhood for nearly 25 years. He loved to celebrate life by cooking foreign foods and enjoying fine wine with friends and family. Jim was thankful for his good fortune and gave generously of both his time and money towards feeding the hungry and housing the homeless, both at home and around the world.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at OUR LADY QUEEN OF PEACE CATHOLIC CHURCH, 401 S Owen Dr., Madison, at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, August 13, 2013, Monsignor Charles Schluter presiding. Visitation will be held at CRESS FUNERAL & CREMATION SERVICES, 610 Speedway Rd., Madison, from 5 until 7 p.m. on Monday, August 12, 2013, and also at the church from 10 a.m. until the time of Mass. All are invited to a celebration luncheon which will be held immediately following mass at the Zor Shrine Temple, 575 Zor Shrine Place, Madison.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Tanzania Development Support, a cause to which Jim was devoted. Please send donations to Anne Moser, 7406 Farmington Way, Madison, WI 53717.
The family wishes to thank the wonderful friends and neighbors who helped Jim over the past 18 months as well as the fine and loving staff at St. Mary's and Agrace HospiceCare. We also wish to thank the more than one hundred blood donors who gave Jim the gift of life. We love you and will miss you, Dad. Online condolences may be made at www.cressfuneralservice.com .