My father, John Roaldseth Moyer, died on November 16th 2024, of natural causes. He was with his wife Kristin, at their home in the village of St. Hilaire d’Ozilhan, France.

I flew to France to attend his funeral. We gave him a great send-off with an abundance of flowers. Many of his friends from Geneva (where he and Kristin worked for many years) made the trip to the village, and several members of Kristin’s family flew in from Norway to pay their respects. My dad was loved by many.

This obituary on the World Council of Churches site is a good one, especially when it comes to his career. For those interested in Frontier Internship in Mission, the Geneva-based NGO my dad directed for many years, Ada Forcer’s dissertation is a good place to start (PDF link).

On a more personal note, I want to share some thoughts about what kind of father he was.

  • My dad was a hobbyist. He had a huge model train setup in our garage in Berkeley, which my brother and I were absolutely fascinated by. He also built model boats from kits, and even briefly took up oil painting. As far as I know he was entirely self-taught, but approached each activity with a fearless sense of exploration that I admired (and I like to think rubbed off on me).
  • My dad was gentle. I’m sure he got angry at my brother and me at times, but none of those moments have stuck with me. I think we did get a few comically light spankings when we were little (as was the tradition at the time), but neither of us ever feared him physically, and he rarely raised his voice.
  • He was strong, too. My brother and I were both surprised by one particular incident where my dad confronted someone who tried to cut in line at the airport. He did so with utter confidence and no anger, and the line cutter backed off without protest. Later, discussing the moment, my brother and I realized we’d both had the same thought–Dad is kind of a badass… (though he never acted “macho”).
  • He led a number of family adventures, including building a cabin in the Oregon woods, a week-long sailing trip on a small boat, and moving to Europe for a number of years.
  • He made and maintained lifelong friendships, including Bill Hepworth (from high school), Gus Schultz, Chuck Harper, Marvin and Erdmut Brown, and many others.
  • He had “joie de vie” to the utmost. He loved parties and he loved to host. He loved wine, probably a little too much (St. Hilaire d’Ozilhan is a small village with six wineries), but most of all he enjoyed sitting with friends and talking endlessly. John and Kristin had an endless flow of guests through their house, all who felt loved and welcome.

My father had his struggles as well, which he included in a series of informal memoirs that he wrote for family. And my relationship with him wasn’t always easy. But I loved him greatly, and looked up to him in many ways, and am grateful that he positively modeled so many aspects of life for me.

Here are a few pictures from various phases of his life. If you want to learn more about my dad for any reason, feel free to get in touch.