John (Jack) Arnold Moeller, 88

August 09, 2024

John (Jack) Arnold Moeller passed away peacefully at Lancaster General Hospital on Friday August 9th, 2024, with loved ones by his side. John was born to Arnold and Elinor Moeller in 1936 in Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota, and resided on the family farm in Gary, South Dakota. He was the second oldest in the family of six which includes Betty, Dorthy, Bernice, Edward and James. John was married to Marie Ann Moeller nee Chesonis for 63 years before her death in 2021.

John moved away from the family farm after high school to serve in the Air Force, which stationed him from Alaska to Benton Air Force Base in Pennsylvania where he met his future wife, Marie. Upon leaving the Air Force as a radar specialist, he applied to the Federal Aviation Administration to become an air traffic controller which took him to New York and to New Jersey. He and the family arrived in Lancaster in 1964 to be a part of the inaugural crew at Lancaster Airport Control Tower where he worked until his retirement in 2011. His love for the friends and colleagues at the Tower was a close second to his love of his family.

John and Marie lived in Lancaster since 1964 where they made many friends and improved the community around them. John and Marie advocated for special needs programs in schools and in the community stemming from their shared experiences with Michael’s learning disabilities. John was a faithful supporter of Sacred Heart of Jesus which was their home parish by serving as Lay Eucharist Minister, yard work at the convent and as Church council president for several terms. To John, no task was too small nor too big. He did everything not for the accolades, but because it had to be done and done for the community.

John enjoyed traveling and experiencing different cultures, food and drinks from such places like Sweden, Lithuania, France, China and Thailand. As well, he and the family traveled throughout the US to see the splendors of national parks, ocean byways, and amusements great and small. His favorite was his family condo in Ocean City, Maryland where he would watch sunsets over the inlet and the jets buzzing over during the annual Air Show.

His first love and unwavering duty was to his family. John had four surviving children. John Moeller Jr of Lancaster, PA husband to Yati Moeller; Stephanie Bernstein of Lititz, PA, fiancé to Thomas Dudas; Bryon Moeller of Lancaster, PA husband to Chau (Meeky) Moeller; and Tim Moeller of Ellicott City, MD husband to Kim Moeller. He was preceded in death by his loving son, Michael Moeller of Lancaster, PA husband to Pamela Moeller. He also had 13 adoring grandchildren, Ally and Zachary (Moeller), Jia and Mei (Bernstein),
Ian and Drew (Moeller), Josiah, husband to Reagan, Andrew, Jesse, Melody, Clayton, Evan and Joel (Moeller) as well as many nieces and nephews.

John’s smile, gregarious laugh, love for life, fine food and friendship made him beloved by all who were blessed to meet him. The party is not over, just moved to a new location.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11AM on Monday, August 19, 2024 at Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church, 558 W. Walnut St, Lancaster, PA 17603. Interment will follow in St. Joseph’s New Catholic Cemetery. Family and friends will be received from 10-11AM at the church on Monday. In lieu of flowers, contributions in John’s memory may be made to Tunnels to Towers Foundation (https://t2t.org/).