Erika Helene Moss

Erika was born on October 3, 1936, in Vienna, Austria. Her brother Rudi was born three years later, and the two of them were nine and six years old when World War II ended. Erika was something of a tomboy in those early years, a thin and gawky girl playing amid the rubble of a city ruined by war. As she grew into a teenager, she surprised herself by becoming beautiful.

She defied her parents to marry an American at the age of 18, a member of the occupying military forces, and she moved to the United States with him, where her son James was born two years later. She accompanied her husband to Germany when the Army posted him there, and Erika’s daughter Sandra was born four years later, in 1961. Sadly, Erika’s marriage did not do well. The couple divorced after 13 years of marriage.

In 1969, Erika married Gene Moss. She lived with him in Munich, Germany. Gene was a star athlete, and Erika was a beauty; they drove fast sportscars, they enjoyed jazz and dancing, they loved life and one another. They made an irresistible couple, and they enjoyed an almost celebrity-like popularity among a large set of adoring friends. From their happy home base in Munich, they traveled extensively throughout Europe, rode camels in Tunisia, and expected life to continue blossoming for them, but Gene died of cancer just six years after their marriage began. It was a crushing thing for Erika.

She was in despair for years. Yet somehow, just making ends meet at first, she discovered a remarkable knack for business. For the next 35 years, as a widow, Erika remained completely independent. She was a highly successful real estate broker, she sold living trusts for a while, she was a costume designer for several movies; and at the same time, she traveled. Back to Austria very frequently, to visit her parents as well as her brother and his family, but also to China, sub-Saharan Africa, Alaska, Central America, Australia, and throughout the Caribbean.

The Caribbean is where she discovered her love for boating and the ocean. For a decade, she gave herself to the ocean, learning to sail, achieving a captain’s license, accompanying friends on sailing trips as far away as Turkey and the Mediterranean. She lived near the beach, spent as much time as possible around boats, wore beach clothing, and felt free.

During this time she became a grandmother to Max, the twins Andy and Alex, and Madeleine. They spent every holiday with her and their mom. They created a wonderful Mother’s Day morning tradition for her, they spent many happy days with her at her cabin in Big Bear, and all of them regarded her as a center of gravity for the family. Ultimately, they also gave her two great-grandchildren, Mila and Gwendolyn.

At the age of 71 Erika met Paul, who was also a boating enthusiast, as well as a prominent Beverly Hills psychiatrist. The two of them married a year later, in a lovely and tragically optimistic wedding ceremony attended by their extended family and friends, and they were married for 17 years, until Erika’s death. For most of those years, they spent every weekend on Paul’s boat in the Marina Del Rey harbor. They traveled to Egypt, to Austria (of course), on a sailing adventure through the Panama Canal, and through the Baltic States to St Petersburg, Russia.

Sadly, age and infirmity gradually confined Erika’s life increasingly to their home. After a series of strokes, she could no longer drive her sportscar, she could no longer travel, and they had to give up the boat. Eventually it became a challenge just to go from one room of the house to another. She could no longer even walk her beloved little dog, Ohrli, who was sleeping at her feet when she died.

We are so desperately sad that Erika is gone. Life takes away everything in the end.