Alan H. Moseley

It is with great sadness the family of Alan Howard Moseley announces his passing on November 20^th, 2020 at the age of 79 after a brief illness. 

He is survived by his wife Marianne, his brothers Lloyd and Grant, his three sons – Craig, Scott [Nora], Todd - and grandsons Lucas & Nate. He also leaves a large, caring extended group of family and friends that span nearly every corner of British Columbia.

Alan was born in 1941 to Bill and Dolly Moseley in Nakusp, B.C. He was the second of four sons; Bryan, Alan, Grant and Lloyd. He spent his early years in Nakusp, living minutes from the shores of the Upper Arrow Lake.  He grew up enjoying the outdoors, fishing and Scouting.  The love of fishing and the outdoors peppered his enjoyment throughout his life.  At school he played baseball, basketball and excelled in his studies.  He and his brothers also helped in his Dad’s greenhouse business. 

He graduated from Nakusp Secondary School in 1959 and moved to Nelson to complete Grade 13 at L.V. Rogers. For the next 4 years he attended the University of British Columbia to complete a degree in Education.  He majored in Mathematics and Chemistry.  During his summers, he worked in the logging industry hooking chokers and fighting fires.  He had many stories to tell of those days working in the woods.  Some of his stories were funny and some were harrowing.

In the final year of his studies at UBC he completed a teaching internship in Quesnel.  He was hired by the Quesnel School District and continued to teach there for the next two years. That began a life-long love of teaching. 

While teaching in Quesnel, Alan often visited friends in Vancouver.  In 1965, on one of these trips, he was introduced to his future wife, Marianne LeChasseur. They were married on July 08, 1967 at the Holy Cross church in North Burnaby, followed by a celebration at the Tea House in Stanley Park.

In 1966 Alan was hired by the Surrey School District and for the first 4½ years of their marriage, they lived in Burnaby and were very involved in their teaching careers in Surrey. 

When their first son was born in 1972, they bought a house and moved to Cloverdale, where they became very involved in the local community.  Alan coached soccer, served as the treasurer for 1st Surrey Centre Scouts.  In this capacity he helped organize the camping equipment, cooked at the camps and was involved in all manner of activities throughout his sons scouting years.  Although they have moved twice since, Alan and Marianne have continued to resided in Cloverdale.

For the first several years teaching Alan taught science and math.  The latter part of his career was mainly focused on teaching Mathematics. He loved teaching all levels of math and seeing the 'lightbulb' go on when his students finally understood a concept. His math teaching skills were not reserved just for the classroom.  He would often gather around the dining table with his sons, nieces, nephews and friends to guide them through some of the tough parts of the math curriculum.

In addition to being a much-loved teacher, a choker man, a fighter of forest fires, basketball coach, a soccer coach, Scouting enthusiast, he was a dedicated gardener, a winemaker, a good chef – and a purveyor of puns. 

 Alan and Marianne celebrated their 50^th Wedding Anniversary on July 8, 2017 and were delighted to share the day with their family and friends. 

Alan was a true Canadian in that he was a strong believer social justice – which he learned from his parents.  Throughout his life he was an open, honest, compassionate and respectful man.  He was a dedicated husband, father, uncle and friend.  Some family members referred to him as “A Prince of a Man”, primarily due to his kindness and patience. He will be sadly missed by all.  We will all miss his generous nature and warm hugs.

A private family interment was held at Surrey Centre Cemetery in Cloverdale.

You are welcome to visit the grave site at your own convenience.  You can find his location at Surrey Cemetery Services, Find a loved one.  A marker will be placed in the new year.

Due to COVID 19 restrictions, a celebration of life will be held in 2021 when we are able to gather and celebrate Alan’s life. 

Until then if you wish to express condolences, comment or share a story you may do so.  You are invited to leave a personal message of condolence for the family.