July 7, 1939 – November 18, 2020
Long time Columbia resident Robert J. Moon, 81, died Nov. 18, 2020, of complications from pneumonia. Mr. Moon was born in Cherryvale, KS, on July 7, 1939, and spent his formative years in Blackwell, OK, where his family ran a nursery and floral shop. The oldest of six children, Mr. Moon graduated from Blackwell High School, followed by a stint in the Army Reserves before attending Northern Oklahoma Junior College , the first in his family to attend college, and then transferring to study architecture at Oklahoma State University where he met his future wife, Jean F. Moon.
While at OSU, Mr. Moon was President of the OSU Newman Club for Catholic students, as well as Chairman of the Newman Club Texoma Province. While still a student, he designed a multipurpose Catholic student center to replace the dilapidated building which doubled as meeting space and low cost housing for students, including him. Mr. Moon received a Bachelor of Architecture in 1965, and married days after graduating. The couple quickly relocated to Milwaukee, WI, where Mr. Moon began his professional career and where the couple’s two children, Elizabeth M. Singleton and Michael F. Moon, were born. The family moved to Columbia, MD, in 1971, when Mr. Moon was offered a job at The Rouse Company. He worked on commercial retail and office development projects before taking a position in 1973 with the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation where he designed a major housing complex.
Mr. Moon opened his own firm, Robert Moon Architects, Inc. in 1981 and had offices in the Columbia Flier Building which he had designed to house the publishing company where his wife was general manager. In 1993, after five years of declining health, he received a heart transplant. He had closed his architecture practice but continued to design buildings and became expert at residential renovation projects for family members and friends. Less than a year after the transplant, he attended the two-week Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Maine where he expanded his cabinetry skills. He built a large studio addition to the family home and filled it with woodworking equipment, becoming an accomplished furniture designer and builder. He later attended Penland School of Craft in North Carolina and returned to Haystack in 2007 for a workshop on chair making with his brother Anthony B. Moon. An Alexander Calder fan, he also designed and built mobiles.
Mr. Moon’s civic work included tenure on Columbia’s Family Life Center Board of Directors where he spearheaded renovation of the FLC building, donating his time and labor. As chair of “The Beat Goes On,” a fundraiser for the American Heart Association, he headed a tribute to cardiologist and friend Dr. Michael Kelemen, whom Mr. Moon credited with saving his life. He was a strong advocate of Richard Louv’s movement to combat childhood nature-deficit disorder and designed a Children’s Garden & Playground for the Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center. He founded the Thunderhill Park Alliance in the hope of influencing plans for a children’s garden on the Smith property in Columbia.
Among his other pursuits, Mr. Moon learned to fly and earned a Private Pilots License, took classes at The Writer’s Center at St. John’s College and Cheasapeake Writers’ Conference, and attended the SOPHIA (School of Philosophy and Healing in Action) Program at the Maryland University of Integrative Health (formerly Tai Sophia). He loved to travel and visited England, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Spain, and other countries in the company of his wife and close friends, especially the late Daniel and Mary Margaret Kamerman, Padraic and the late Ellen Kennedy, and Ralph and Esen Paradiso. He and his family enjoyed several winter vacations in St. Croix, VI. The couple, their children and grandchildren and spouses vacationed together for a week every summer, most often in Emerald Isle, NC. Mr. Moon enjoyed a particularly close relationship with his grandchildren who lived nearby in Columbia and who benefitted from his pleasure at serving as their chauffeur, attending their school activities and taking them to community events. He enjoyed music, theatre and the visual arts, as well as poetry readings, particularly those at the biennial Geraldine Dodge Poetry Festival which he attended with his wife, daughter and son-in-law.
Mr. Moon spent his last days at Howard County General Hospital combating pneumonia and moved to Gilchrist the day before he died. Among his final words were, “I lived a happy life.”
In addition to his wife of 55 years, Mr. Moon is survived by daughter Elizabeth M. Singleton (Timothy N. Singleton) of Columbia, son Michael F. Moon (Courtney S. Moon) of Columbia and five grandchildren: Dylan P. Singleton (Samantha R. Schmeider) of Washington, D.C, Julia M. Singleton (Jennifer M. Keller), Alexander R. Moon, Aidan M. Moon and Jackson H. Moon. He is also survived by brothers William F. Moon (Betty Moon) of Blackwell, OK, Michael D. Moon of Decatur, GA, Anthony B. Moon (Marian Moon) of Edmond, OK, and Sylvester C. Moon (Mary Moon) of Andover, KS. He was predeceased by parents Sylvester F. Moon and Mary C. Moon and sister Eleanor E. Dockers.
The family of Bob Moon is holding a virtual celebration of his life on Saturday, Nov. 28, 2 p.m.
Register at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAlf-GvqDsoGNJEusaCglMbiJMMpI__xMoM/
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
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