Elliott “Bo” Mozee

Elliott “Bo” Mozee

July 1, 1929 ~ April 21, 2019

Elliott Mozee was born in Nome on July 1, 1929 and passed away due to heart failure in Davis, California on April 21, 2019.

Known to his family and the Nome community as “Bo,” his father Benjamin B. Mozee II, worked for the Reindeer Service and later served as the U.S. Marshal for the Second Judicial District of Alaska. His mother Narene Elliott was an adventurer and the daughter of a great conservationist Henry Wood Elliott, who is credited for doing much to save the Northern Fur Seals of Alaska from being hunted to extinction by commercial interests.

Elliott had three older half sisters, Bonnie, Jean and Yvonne, who were also brought up in Nome. Growing up in Nome during the depression years, money was often very tight and he cleaned up saloons and worked as a miners’ assistant as a boy to help out. His mother was tragically murdered on a Lake Erie ship when he was only 11-years-old. For two years during World War II, Elliott attended high school in Beaverton, Oregon. Upon returning, he played basketball for and graduated with the Nome High School class of 1947. After graduation, he took a steamer to Honolulu to visit his sister Jean and her husband J.D., where he ended up working for a year on an Oahu mountain road construction project. He left Hawaii to attend college and graduated from the University of New Mexico.

 In his senior year, he met Trudy Marie Brown, his wife of over 60 years. Immediately after marrying, he served in the U.S. Air Force and worked at bases in Texas and New Mexico during the Korean War. He served in the USAF Reserve for over 20 years and attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. A life-long educator, Elliott earned masters degrees from the University of Oregon and Long Beach State, and a doctorate from the University of Southern California. He initially taught high school in Long Beach and Catalina Island, California, and then spent the bulk of his career as a professor and counselor at Cabrillo College in Aptos, California.

Trudy and Elliott shared a love for music, reading, movies and international travel until she predeceased him by five years. They raised four children that, in turn, raised ten grandchildren. In addition to nieces and nephews, he also leaves a great-grandchild that carries his first name.

Elliott’s core values that he often passed on to his family were to “be brave, be smart and be honest.”  He lived by those words.

The Nome Nugget

PO Box 610
Nome, Alaska 99762
USA

Phone: (907) 443-5235
Fax: (907) 443-5112

www.nomenugget.net

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