Daily World, The (Aberdeen, WA) - January 20, 2005
Deceased Name: Harbor native Bob Moch , cox of 1936 Olympics gold medal-winning crew, dies
ISSAQUAH - Montesano native Bob Moch , coxswain of the University of Washington eight-oared crew that made a breathtaking come-from-behind victory to win a gold medal in the 1936 Olympic Games, is dead at 90.
Moch had a stroke Jan. 7 at his apartment Issaquah and died Tuesday at a care facility on the Sammamish Plateau.
Moch , who grew up in Montesano, found himself and his crew in Lane 6 for the climactic race in Berlin, more exposed to the weather and farther from the starter than the others. The Huskies didn't hear the start and were in last place with less than half of the 2,000-meter race left, partly because stroke Don Hume was ill and nearly unconscious.
In an interview with The Seattle Times last year, Moch said he was about to ask Joe Rantz in the No. 7 seat to begin setting the pace when Hume suddenly came to life.
Unable to make himself heard above the crowd noise even with his megaphone, the senior cox banged on the side of the shell to give the cadence, boosting the pace by 20 strokes to about 45 per minute at the end.
In the last 10 strokes, the Huskies passed Germany and Italy to win.
In a 1988 interview with The Daily World, Moch said he'd lied to the crew about the distance remaining to the finish to get them to pick up the tempo on their strokes.
In those days, incidentally, Olympic crews were not all-star rowers as they are today. So the University of Washington crew went as a unit.
Daily World, The (Aberdeen, WA)
Date: January 20, 2005

Seattle Times, The (WA) - January 20, 2005
Deceased Name: Huskies rowing great Moch dies
GOLD MEDALIST | Montesano native was the coxswain on the UW crew that stunned the world at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.
Bob Moch , coxswain of the 1936 University of Washington eight-oared crew that won the Olympic gold medal in front of Adolph Hitler, has died at age 90.
Moch , a retired lawyer, had suffered a stroke at his apartment at an Issaquah retirement facility Jan. 7, according to his wife, LaVerne. He died Tuesday at a care facility on the Sammamish Plateau.
"Bob was a great friend, a great coxswain and a great person," said Huskies teammate Jim McMillin of Bainbridge Island yesterday. The other surviving oarsmen from the storied crew are Roger Morris of Maple Valley and Joe Rantz of Redmond.
Morris echoed McMillin's comments, saying, "Bob was absolutely tremendous as a coxswain and as a person."
The Huskies' victory in the 1936 Olympics is considered among the greatest achievements in state history.
"We owe him a ton for helping win that race in Berlin," McMillin said. "We were in deep trouble, and he was able to pull us out of it."
The Huskies had been placed in Lane 6, where they were most exposed to the weather. The Germans were in Lane 1.
"We were as far away as you could be," Morris said.
The Huskies didn't hear the start and were in last place with less than 1,000 meters left in the 2,000-meter race. One reason was that stroke Don Hume was ill.
In a Times interview last year, Moch said that during the race "Don's eyes were closed and his mouth was wide open. For all intents and purposes, he had passed out."
Just as Moch was about to ask Rantz in the No. 7 seat to set the stroke, Hume suddenly became alert again.
McMillin said the crowd noise was so loud that Moch 's megaphone was useless, so the senior coxswain banged effectively on the side of the shell to signal the desired cadence. As the finish line approached, McMillin said Moch then called for "a 20" (20 powerful strokes) and the rowers thought those would be the final strokes of the race.
"We hit 17 and 18, and then he said 20 more on top of that," McMillin said. "I don't know where we got that last 20."
McMillin estimates that the strokes-per-minute rate reached about 45. The Huskies passed Germany and then Italy in the final 10 strokes to win the gold.
"I can still remember Bob saying in kind of a half-whisper, 'I think we won,' but no one was sure," McMillin said. "Then we saw a friend who was a spectator on the shore, and he was jumping about 10 feet in the air, so we figured we did it."
Mrs. Moch said a private gathering will be held to commemorate her husband's life. She said the date hasn't been set.
The Mochs married in 1968 after his first wife, Barbara, died. They each had three children from their first marriages. They are Michael K. Moch , a professor at Michigan State, Marilyn Moch of Seattle, Robert Moch of Whidbey Island, Michael Jacobs of Bend, Ore., Patricia Sabin of Chehalis and Sharon Alexander of Seattle.
There are 13 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren. He also is survived by a sister, Marjorie Robertson of Bainbridge Island.
Mr. Moch was born and raised in Montesano, Grays Harbor County.
Memorials are suggested to the Dick Erickson Scholarship Fund at the UW, the George Pocock Rowing Foundation and the Sigma Tau Education Foundation, which funds scholarships for undergraduate members of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity at the UW.
Members of the 1936 crew who died in recent years were George Hunt, John White, Gordy Adam and Hume. Charles Day, who died of cancer, was the only man in the boat who didn't reach old age.
Craig Smith: 206-464-8279 or [email protected]
Seattle Times, The (WA)
Date: January 20, 2005
Author: Craig Smith
Edition: Fourth
Page: C1

Chronicle, The (Centralia, WA) - January 26, 2005
Deceased Name: Bob Moch - Robert G. Moch , J.D.
Passed away Jan. 18, 2005, born Montesano, WA, June 20, 1914. Son of Gaston and Fleeta Belle (Metcalf). Married Barbara M. Kent, Sept. 2, 1940 (deceased). Married La-Verne I. Miller, May 29, 1968.
B.A. University of Wash-ington, 1936. Juris Doctor, Harvard, 1941. Bar: Mass. 1941, WA 1945. Assistant crew coach University of Washington 1936-1939. Head crew coach Mass. Inst. Tech., 1939-1944.
Practiced law in Boston 1941-1944, Seattle 1945-2000. Associated with Her-rick, Smith, Donald, Farley & Ketchum 1941-1944, Egg-erman, Rosling & Williams 1945-1950. Weter, Roberts & Shefelman 1950-1953. Part-ner Roberts, Schefelman, Lawrence, Gay & Moch 1953, through the merger of Foster, Pepper and She-felman, and continuing until his retirement in 2000.
Member Rowing Steward, University of Washington. Recipient Olympic Gold Medal, Berlin Germany 1936, where he served as coxswain of the "Husky Clipper". Named to Helms Rowing Hall of Fame. University of Washington Hall of Fame. Bob con-tinued to be involved with the rowing program at the University of Washington all of his life.
Member: American Bar Assoc., University of Wash-ington Alumni Assn. (pres. 1978-79), Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha Kappa Psi, Beta Gamma Sigma, Phi Delta Phi, Phi Gamma Delta.
Clubs: Rainer Rotary (Seattle). Member Univer-sity of Washington crew 1933-1936. Some of Bob's favorite charities were the: Dick Erickson Scholarship Fund, c/o Bob Ernst, Box 354080, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, the George Pocock Rowing Foundation, 3320 Fuhrman Ave. E., Seattle, WA 98161-1083, and the Sigma Tau Educational Foundation, 1990 144th Ave. N.E., Woodinville, WA 98072. Remembrances may also be directed to the charity of your choice.
Robert Moch is survived by his wife LaVerne, at home in Issaquah, WA. Sister Marjory and hus-band Stuart Robertson of Bainbridge Island, and a large loving family. Child-ren: Marilynn Moch in Seattle, Michael Moch of Lansing, MI, Robert "Bobby" Moch and wife Donna, in Whidby Island. Michael Jacobs and wife Jan of Bend, OR, Patricia Sabin and husband Kenneth of Chehalis, WA, Sharon Alexander and husband Jerry of Seattle, thirteen grandchildren and twenty-one great grandchildren.
Chehalis resident who survive Robert Moch are: (daughter) Patricia and Kenneth Sabin. (Grand-daughter) Karen Sabin Nakano and family, (grand-son) Paul and Michelle Sabin and family.
A family gathering of all decendents will be held at the home of Kenneth and Patrica Sabin on February 6th. Robert, "Bob", "Dad", "Grampy", was greatly loved, respected, and will be missed by all.
Chronicle, The (Centralia, WA)
Date: January 26, 2005∼Olympian. Member of the United States Rowing Team that won a gold medal at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin Germany.

Daily World, The (Aberdeen, WA) - January 20, 2005
Deceased Name: Harbor native Bob Moch , cox of 1936 Olympics gold medal-winning crew, dies
ISSAQUAH - Montesano native Bob Moch , coxswain of the University of Washington eight-oared crew that made a breathtaking come-from-behind victory to win a gold medal in the 1936 Olympic Games, is dead at 90.
Moch had a stroke Jan. 7 at his apartment Issaquah and died Tuesday at a care facility on the Sammamish Plateau.
Moch , who grew up in Montesano, found himself and his crew in Lane 6 for the climactic race in Berlin, more exposed to the weather and farther from the starter than the others. The Huskies didn't hear the start and were in last place with less than half of the 2,000-meter race left, partly because stroke Don Hume was ill and nearly unconscious.
In an interview with The Seattle Times last year, Moch said he was about to ask Joe Rantz in the No. 7 seat to begin setting the pace when Hume suddenly came to life.
Unable to make himself heard above the crowd noise even with his megaphone, the senior cox banged on the side of the shell to give the cadence, boosting the pace by 20 strokes to about 45 per minute at the end.
In the last 10 strokes, the Huskies passed Germany and Italy to win.
In a 1988 interview with The Daily World, Moch said he'd lied to the crew about the distance remaining to the finish to get them to pick up the tempo on their strokes.
In those days, incidentally, Olympic crews were not all-star rowers as they are today. So the University of Washington crew went as a unit.
Daily World, The (Aberdeen, WA)
Date: January 20, 2005

Seattle Times, The (WA) - January 20, 2005
Deceased Name: Huskies rowing great Moch dies
GOLD MEDALIST | Montesano native was the coxswain on the UW crew that stunned the world at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.
Bob Moch , coxswain of the 1936 University of Washington eight-oared crew that won the Olympic gold medal in front of Adolph Hitler, has died at age 90.
Moch , a retired lawyer, had suffered a stroke at his apartment at an Issaquah retirement facility Jan. 7, according to his wife, LaVerne. He died Tuesday at a care facility on the Sammamish Plateau.
"Bob was a great friend, a great coxswain and a great person," said Huskies teammate Jim McMillin of Bainbridge Island yesterday. The other surviving oarsmen from the storied crew are Roger Morris of Maple Valley and Joe Rantz of Redmond.
Morris echoed McMillin's comments, saying, "Bob was absolutely tremendous as a coxswain and as a person."
The Huskies' victory in the 1936 Olympics is considered among the greatest achievements in state history.
"We owe him a ton for helping win that race in Berlin," McMillin said. "We were in deep trouble, and he was able to pull us out of it."
The Huskies had been placed in Lane 6, where they were most exposed to the weather. The Germans were in Lane 1.
"We were as far away as you could be," Morris said.
The Huskies didn't hear the start and were in last place with less than 1,000 meters left in the 2,000-meter race. One reason was that stroke Don Hume was ill.
In a Times interview last year, Moch said that during the race "Don's eyes were closed and his mouth was wide open. For all intents and purposes, he had passed out."
Just as Moch was about to ask Rantz in the No. 7 seat to set the stroke, Hume suddenly became alert again.
McMillin said the crowd noise was so loud that Moch 's megaphone was useless, so the senior coxswain banged effectively on the side of the shell to signal the desired cadence. As the finish line approached, McMillin said Moch then called for "a 20" (20 powerful strokes) and the rowers thought those would be the final strokes of the race.
"We hit 17 and 18, and then he said 20 more on top of that," McMillin said. "I don't know where we got that last 20."
McMillin estimates that the strokes-per-minute rate reached about 45. The Huskies passed Germany and then Italy in the final 10 strokes to win the gold.
"I can still remember Bob saying in kind of a half-whisper, 'I think we won,' but no one was sure," McMillin said. "Then we saw a friend who was a spectator on the shore, and he was jumping about 10 feet in the air, so we figured we did it."
Mrs. Moch said a private gathering will be held to commemorate her husband's life. She said the date hasn't been set.
The Mochs married in 1968 after his first wife, Barbara, died. They each had three children from their first marriages. They are Michael K. Moch , a professor at Michigan State, Marilyn Moch of Seattle, Robert Moch of Whidbey Island, Michael Jacobs of Bend, Ore., Patricia Sabin of Chehalis and Sharon Alexander of Seattle.
There are 13 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren. He also is survived by a sister, Marjorie Robertson of Bainbridge Island.
Mr. Moch was born and raised in Montesano, Grays Harbor County.
Memorials are suggested to the Dick Erickson Scholarship Fund at the UW, the George Pocock Rowing Foundation and the Sigma Tau Education Foundation, which funds scholarships for undergraduate members of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity at the UW.
Members of the 1936 crew who died in recent years were George Hunt, John White, Gordy Adam and Hume. Charles Day, who died of cancer, was the only man in the boat who didn't reach old age.
Craig Smith: 206-464-8279 or [email protected]
Seattle Times, The (WA)
Date: January 20, 2005
Author: Craig Smith
Edition: Fourth
Page: C1

Chronicle, The (Centralia, WA) - January 26, 2005
Deceased Name: Bob Moch - Robert G. Moch , J.D.
Passed away Jan. 18, 2005, born Montesano, WA, June 20, 1914. Son of Gaston and Fleeta Belle (Metcalf). Married Barbara M. Kent, Sept. 2, 1940 (deceased). Married La-Verne I. Miller, May 29, 1968.
B.A. University of Wash-ington, 1936. Juris Doctor, Harvard, 1941. Bar: Mass. 1941, WA 1945. Assistant crew coach University of Washington 1936-1939. Head crew coach Mass. Inst. Tech., 1939-1944.
Practiced law in Boston 1941-1944, Seattle 1945-2000. Associated with Her-rick, Smith, Donald, Farley & Ketchum 1941-1944, Egg-erman, Rosling & Williams 1945-1950. Weter, Roberts & Shefelman 1950-1953. Part-ner Roberts, Schefelman, Lawrence, Gay & Moch 1953, through the merger of Foster, Pepper and She-felman, and continuing until his retirement in 2000.
Member Rowing Steward, University of Washington. Recipient Olympic Gold Medal, Berlin Germany 1936, where he served as coxswain of the "Husky Clipper". Named to Helms Rowing Hall of Fame. University of Washington Hall of Fame. Bob con-tinued to be involved with the rowing program at the University of Washington all of his life.
Member: American Bar Assoc., University of Wash-ington Alumni Assn. (pres. 1978-79), Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha Kappa Psi, Beta Gamma Sigma, Phi Delta Phi, Phi Gamma Delta.
Clubs: Rainer Rotary (Seattle). Member Univer-sity of Washington crew 1933-1936. Some of Bob's favorite charities were the: Dick Erickson Scholarship Fund, c/o Bob Ernst, Box 354080, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, the George Pocock Rowing Foundation, 3320 Fuhrman Ave. E., Seattle, WA 98161-1083, and the Sigma Tau Educational Foundation, 1990 144th Ave. N.E., Woodinville, WA 98072. Remembrances may also be directed to the charity of your choice.
Robert Moch is survived by his wife LaVerne, at home in Issaquah, WA. Sister Marjory and hus-band Stuart Robertson of Bainbridge Island, and a large loving family. Child-ren: Marilynn Moch in Seattle, Michael Moch of Lansing, MI, Robert "Bobby" Moch and wife Donna, in Whidby Island. Michael Jacobs and wife Jan of Bend, OR, Patricia Sabin and husband Kenneth of Chehalis, WA, Sharon Alexander and husband Jerry of Seattle, thirteen grandchildren and twenty-one great grandchildren.
Chehalis resident who survive Robert Moch are: (daughter) Patricia and Kenneth Sabin. (Grand-daughter) Karen Sabin Nakano and family, (grand-son) Paul and Michelle Sabin and family.
A family gathering of all decendents will be held at the home of Kenneth and Patrica Sabin on February 6th. Robert, "Bob", "Dad", "Grampy", was greatly loved, respected, and will be missed by all.
Chronicle, The (Centralia, WA)
Date: January 26, 2005∼Olympian. Member of the United States Rowing Team that won a gold medal at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin Germany.