William Henry Mueser, Jr

Bill Mueser, the son of William Henry Mueser and Edna Meyer Mueser, was born February 27, 1931, in New York, New York, and died at home in Moraga, California, on April 5, 2022. Bill is the second of four children including Caryl, Robert and Gayle. He attended Horace Greeley high school in Chappaqua, New York, excelling in basketball and football, leading the sports and service committees, serving as class president his senior year, and becoming life-long friends with his French teacher and her husband, Jean and Rudd Fenn. Bill served at Laredo Air Force Base as 2nd Lieutenant in Texas from 1953-55, during the Korean War. He followed his father in civil engineering, earning a bachelor’s and master’s from M.I.T., and was an SAE fraternity member. He played four years of MIT Lacrosse and was their MVP his senior year. His career as a soils engineer in marine construction spanned many decades and two coasts, starting with MueserRutledge-Johnson in New York, and then in the Bay Area under Healy Tibbetts, Smith-Rice (VP and General Manager - most of his career), Dutra, then Great Lakes Dredge and Dock. He retired in 1994 and became an active member of SIRS.

Bill met Connie (Helen Constance Chandler), his wife of nearly 60 years, in San Francisco while they volunteered (ironically given their later views) with the Young Republicans. He impressed her by estimating the number of toothpicks extractable from a giant redwood while on an adventure in Muir Woods. They married in 1961, and had two lovely girls, Heidi Michele (1963), and Erica Denise (1965), and eventually moved to Moraga, where they have lived for over 50 years. Bill served actively on Moraga’s Planning Commission, where he pushed the Town of Moraga to acquire the Hacienda Rheem Estate. Bill coached numerous LMYA teams for his daughters, always an advocate for equal playing time, and for girls’ sports. Later, “Grandpa Bill” vocally participated on the sidelines for his grandchildren’s games, a loud critic of bad calls! At airports, Bill would sort all the luggage as it came off the carousel so the conveyor would run more efficiently and the owners could more easily grab their bags. On any outing, he always retrieved the car and brought it to his devoted wife to keep her warm and comfortable. Bill volunteered for decades with the Monument Crisis Center, ever the efficiency expert, hefting large boxes and preparing grocery giveaways until age 89, when the pandemic interfered.

Bill loved athletic competition. When his mother forbade him from college football, he excelled in lacrosse, not revealing that it was nearly as violent. He quickly picked up most sports, including water and snow skiing, and he became an eminently mediocre golfer, saving his golf cards with his hole-in-one, and the times he broke “100”. Golfing with Bill was to watch him search for everyone’s ball. He loved following his favorite local teams, including the Oakland Raiders, A’s, and Warriors, but he was especially devoted to Stanford Women’s Basketball. While in attendance at games he would frequently switch seats, intent on changing the luck of his team. In later years he perfected the art of watching three games simultaneously, plus a Hallmark movie, all while playing solitaire on his iPad.

Bill and Connie loved to travel, and visited many parts of the world on yearly trips, planned and documented to the tiniest detail. Bill was the ultimate provider as he cherished his wife, their children and grandchildren. Modest, frugal, and meticulous, he dutifully recorded every single transaction in Quicken. He was honest and kind to a fault, and gave such strong hugs they hurt. He loved to labor in his yard, finding great solace in the process – he was capable and strong until his 90’s. He loved ushering at LOPC, and was the neighborhood favorite for treating everyone to Christmas fudge.

Bill is survived by his sweetheart, Connie, sisters Caryl Mueser and Gayle Schulman, children Heidi and Riki (husband, Andy), and beloved grandchildren Zachary, Kacey, and Michael.

In lieu of flowers, please support the Monument Crisis Center, https:// monumentcrisiscenter.org/ donate-now in memory of Bill Mueser P.O. Box 23973 Pleasant Hill, CA 94523 Monument Crisis Center is a 501C (3) Organization Tax ID # 41-2111171 Express condolences at oakparkhillschapel.com