Charles W. Moss

Charles “Chuck” W. Moss died peacefully in his home on October 17, 2021. He was 91 years old.

Chuck was born Sunday, August 3, 1930, in Parsons, Kansas, to the Reverend Floyd C. Moss and Clara (Schwabedissen) Moss. The family lived in several small cities in eastern Kansas while he was growing up. They moved to Kansas City, Kansas, in his junior year in high school.

Chuck attended Baker University in Baldwin, Kansas. Following graduation, he was drafted and served in the US Army for two years at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. He furthered his dream of becoming a city manager by attending graduate school at the University of Kansas during which he served an internship in Junction City, Kansas, and married Martha McWilliams in October 1955. They would have three sons: Dave, Steve, and R.J.

From Junction City, the family moved to Concordia, Kansas, where he was City Manager for 10 years. Chuck was also on the founding committee of Cloud County Kansas Community College. His next manager position was in Arkansas City, Kansas, where he also oversaw the building and management of a hospital. He was one of the coaches for his sons’ baseball teams. His cry, “Be ready, be ready, be ready” could be heard all throughout the park.

The next City Manager move came in 1970. They drove from Kansas to Pocatello, Idaho, with the three boys and a dog with a broken leg in the back seat of the car. In 1988, he moved to Boise, Idaho, and worked in State government under Governor Cecil Andrus. Chuck became the State Budget Director; he also was the Director of the state team for the Bunker Hill Environmental Cleanup and chairman of the Board of Trustees Bunker Hill Trust Fund.

During his career he was President of the Kansas City Managers Association and President of the Great Open spaces City Managers Association. He was on the Board of Trustees for both Concordia and Pocatello United Methodist Churches.

Upon retirement in 1996, Chuck and Martha began traveling. They enjoyed going to Europe and taking cruises. One of their greatest joys was wintering in Kona, Hawaii, and being with the friends they made there. The couple moved into the Owyhee Terrace complex in 1991. When he retired, Chuck became an Association Board member. He volunteered to manage the landscaping, sign contracts, pave and resurface the streets in the complex. He worried constantly about the irrigation well. Owyhee Terrace became his city. As he did his whole professional career, it was not unusual for him to wake up at three in the morning to check on something he was worried about. His fellow tenants at Owyhee Terrace became familiar with his 1981 VW diesel truck that could be heard a mile away and that belched blue smoke in the winter. He loved that old truck.

Chuck Moss had a life well-spent. He dedicated his life to others and was always helping. He will be greatly missed by his wife, Martha; his son, Dave; and his grandchildren, Trevor, Tucker, Reno, Samantha, Mason; and his daughters-in-law, Cindy and Joni. Chuck’s sons, R.J. and Steve, preceded him in death. Because of COVID, services will be a family remembrance and Celebration of Life at Thanksgiving when the family gathers together.