Robert
Douglas Moule of Stayton, Oregon passed from this life on
January 19, 2018. He
is honored and remembered fondly by his family as the most
gentle and most upstanding of individuals. He is survived by his
wife, Jean Golson Moule; his children, Mary Ellen Moule and her
spouse Gregory Woods, of New York City; Michael Mountain Moule
and his spouse Jennifer Hill, of Kauai, Hawaii; and Matthew
Malcolm Moule and his spouse Angela Freeman, of Portland; his
siblings, Beatrice Dick of Bardos, France; David Moule, of
Eugene, Oregon; and Charles Moule of White City, Oregon. He is
also remembered fondly by his grandchildren Jaylin Freeman-Broadous,
Quinci Freeman-Lytle, Ainsley Mae Moule Woods, James Sterling
Moule Woods, Charles Scott Moule, and Bella Freeman-Moule.
Robbie, as he was
known to his family and friends, was born in Stockton,
California on July 18, 1943 to parents Malcolm Moule and Ellen
(Douglas) Moule. He attended the University of California at
Berkeley, where he met his beloved wife Jean. They met the day
President Kennedy was shot and were later arrested together in
the Free Speech Movement. Robbie earned a master’s degree in
History from the University of San Francisco, but when they
moved to Oregon in 1969, he couldn't find a teaching job, so he
did seasonal work planting and thinning trees for local timber
companies. In 1973, he was hired full-time by Mason, Bruce, and
Girard, where he worked for Avery Properties managing timber,
retiring in 2006. Until shortly before he passed, he enjoyed
showing friends and family the old-growth forests, modern timber
techniques, and the perfect places to search for edible
mushrooms in the woods where he spent so much of his time.
Settling first near
Silver Falls Park and welcomed by the community of Chapel in the
Hills, Robbie and Jean then lived in Lyons. They moved to their
home on Kingston-Lyons Drive in 1981, where they raised their
three children and resided until his death. Robbie served as a
deacon at the Santiam Chapel Assemblies of God church in Lyons
and then the Foursquare Church in Stayton, and led bible study
at the church in their home for 10 years. He served on the Lyons
City Council and on the school board of Stayton Union High
School, and worked weekends as a ski instructor at Hoodoo Ski
Area. He cultivated and harvested a magnificent garden.
Robbie was diagnosed
with salivary duct cancer in May, 2014. The doctors at Oregon
Health Sciences University and Providence Hospital in Portland
worked together to devise treatments and encouraged Robbie to
live life to the fullest. After his diagnosis, his family joined
him on trips to Alaska, National Parks in Arizona and Utah,
Central Oregon, and Spain, exploring different cultures and wild
spaces as he has for all of his life. Jean and Robbie also
traveled to New York City, Southern California, Hawaii, the
Mediterranean, French Polynesia, Egypt and Jordan, western
Canada, and Mexico in recent years, determined to see and
appreciate together as much of the world as possible.
We will all miss him
dearly. We have benefited from his contemplative demeanor,
strength of character, and positive outlook on life.
A time of remembrance
is planned for what would have been his 75th birthday
on Wednesday, July 18, 2018, from 1-3 pm at 43500 Kingston-Lyons
Drive, Stayton.
