M. Eugene Moyer

M. Eugene Moyer, a longtime economist for the Department of Health and Human Services, died Friday, May 30, 2014, at his home in Annandale. He was 79. Mr. Moyer began his federal government career in 1970, when the department was called Health, Education and Welfare. Among his projects as a health economist, he estimated the numbers of uninsured Americans during the 1990s. He retired in 1999. Gene Moyer was born Nov. 14, 1934, in Muncie, Ind., to Marion and Mildred Beall Moyer, and was the eldest of five children. He grew up in Muncie, graduated from Central Senior High School, and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from Ball State University. He earned another master’s and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. While completing his own education, he taught middle and high school and worked for a J.C. Penney store in Indiana and taught at the college level in Buffalo, N.Y. He taught economics for several years at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana before moving with his family to Alexandria to begin his federal government career. He owned Gene’s Antiques in Annandale for many years, and through it developed a wide circle of friends. A tenor and ukulele player, he enjoyed singing folk songs, rounds and risqué ditties, and he shared with his children the delightful tradition of singing on long car trips. He traveled to 17 foreign countries for work or fun. He was an avid reader and public library user. Survivors include daughters Rosemarie Moyer Nielsen of Alexandria and Laura Moyer of Fredericksburg; son-in-law Dan Nielsen of Alexandria; grandson Dan Nielsen of Springfield; granddaughter Ellie Nielsen of Alexandria; Laura’s partner, Jim Hall of Fredericksburg; brothers Ted Moyer of New Castle, Ind., and Joseph Moyer of Muncie; sister Joyce Sellers of Westlake Village, Calif.; and a dear friend, Marge Craven of McLean. He also is survived by his former wife, Rosalie C. Moyer of Falls Church, and many siblings-in-law, nieces, nephews, friends and other relatives. A son, Gregory Gene Moyer, and a sister, Kaye Moyer Valos, preceded him in death. A memorial service will be held at noon Wednesday, June 18, 2014, at Demaine Funeral Home, 5308 Backlick Road, Springfield. The family will receive visitors at the funeral home an hour before the service. Burial will be private. Expressions of sympathy may take the form of contributions to public radio station WAMU’s Bluegrass Country, c/o American University, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, D.C., 20016, or to a public library.