Marvin H. Moeller

95, Preceded in death by beloved wife Mary. Father of Gary Moeller and Judy Brown. Funeral service 2:00 pm, Monday, November 1st, at Arvada Presbyterian Church, 5592 Independence Street. Interment following at the Arvada Cemetery.

Marvin Harry Moeller loved to laugh and thrived on having people around him who enjoyed a good time. He was a farm kid, runner, singer, baseball pitcher, dairyman, salesman, Elk, and most of all a husband, father and friend. He was incredibly ethical, responsible and one of the kindest people that I’ve ever known. His wife and my mom, the disciplinarian, would threaten that dad would give me a spanking when he got home, but except for one time, somehow he found a way out of it.

He was born in Otoe County Nebraska on March 7, 1915 the oldest child of Harry G. and Wilhelmina “Minnie” Mitzner Moeller. He learned to pitch a curve ball from a baseball pitching book that he found in the henhouse. He was second fastest high school mile runner in Nebraska and something happened so he couldn’t attend a singing contest, where he teacher was sure he would win by singing “Danny Boy”.

After high school graduation in 1933, he attended the University of Nebraska, Agriculture School in Lincoln Nebraska, but wasn’t able to finish because of finances. He went to work for his mom’s sister Molly in her family’s dairy, where he met his lifelong friend, Hank Traphaghan. Hank was a first cousin to Mary Reisher, daughter of Noah Godfrey and Lora Simmerman Reisher, and introduced them at a dance in McCook Nebraska. They married December 23,1939, on her mom’s birthday in the Methodist Parsonage in McCook.

They resided in Omaha and had a son, Gary in 1941. Later that year they moved to Denver where Marvin got a job in another dairy. His passion was ice cream. He loved making it and eating it! Daughter Judy arrived in 1944 and Marvin kept working in dairies as a routeman then supervisor, getting a reputation as fair, hard working and knowledgeable man. One of his favorite employers was the Robinson family. The different generations of the Robinson’s were long time friends. The family moved from Denver to Arvada in 1947.

Marvin got a job selling dairy equipment for John Turner. He and John were good friends until John’s death a few years ago.

In the mid 1950s he and Mary owned the Atlasta Dairy. Unfortunately it burned down losing everything. They sold it and a few years later bought an ice cream business in Grand Junction Colorado, Homaid Ice Cream. He made the yummiest ice cream on this planet! The large ice cream producers, however, tried to get rid of small competitors, so they undercut his price and after a couple of years, they were forced to sell. The family moved back to Arvada and for the last 20 years of his working life, he sold dairy supplies. When he was forced to retire at age 65, he panicked and got three part time jobs.

Mary and Marv always loved music and dancing. I remember them going to the Trocadero ballroom in Elitches gardens to dance to the big bands like Lawrence Welk, Glenn Miller and others.

In the 1960s he joined the Arvada Elks Lodge, worked through the chairs and became an Exalted Ruler in 1976. Mom said that the lodge was his second home and mused that sometimes it was his first home. He loved the camaraderie and the constant activity.

Mary died in March 2005, just after we all celebrated dad’s 90th birthday with a party.

He was devastated over losing his “partner”. They’d been married 65 years.

He still had his sense of humor to the end. In the morning of the day he died, because he was struggling to breathe, I asked him if he felt like crap. He said “yeah” smiled and chuckled. He was gone a few hours later. He will be missed!