Martha Jean Moss

Martha Jean Moss (née Schwartz), of West Hartford and Bloomfield, Connecticut, passed away unexpectedly on December 18, 2024. She was born in St. Louis on March 2, 1946 to Coleman and Sylvia Schwartz, but she proudly spent her childhood in Newark, New Jersey. She grew up surrounded by family: her parents and her loving sister Sandy, as well as grandparents, numerous aunts and uncles, and many cousins. She graduated from Weequahic High School. So many stories of her childhood have passed with her, but several will be forever remembered in the family lore, such as “the tomato”, “the back hallway”, and “Mrs. Fuchs”. She was fond of remembering her time as a “candy striper” in the local hospital - perhaps one of the first concrete examples of the joy she got from helping others. She attended Rutgers University, where she met a graduate student named Ron Moss. It was Ron who began to call her Jeanie, and to this day, so many knew her as Jean. They married on August 10, 1969, and after several years living in New Brunswick, NJ, they eventually settled in Pomona, NJ. Martha began a career as a reading teacher for middle school students. She was proud to have been given the moniker “Boss Moss” by her students. In 1982, their child Jonathan was born. Martha never returned to the classroom, but she continued to eagerly teach anyone around her when the opportunity arose. Martha was a lifelong learner. After earning both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education, Martha returned to school to earn another bachelor's degree in computer science, then a wholly new field. (She remembers learning the cutting edge language of BASIC.) She learned and became quite talented as both a potter and a woodworker. She was active in the school PTA, the Galloway Township Historical Society, the public library, and so many other activities. For many years, she worked for a variety of organizations and companies where she channeled her meticulous research and planning skills to organize events, coordinate training, and more. In 1991, Martha, Ron, and Jonathan relocated to West Hartford, CT, where she lived until 2020, when she and Ron moved to Bloomfield, CT. She would tell you that she didn’t really have any hobbies, but her family knew better: She attended fitness classes at the senior center, she enjoyed gardening, she loved singing with the West Hartford Women’s Chorale, she looked forward to the “Cousin Zoom” calls that stretched nearly coast to coast, she and Jon loved to play Rummy 500, and she probably could recite the scripts of most NCIS episodes by heart. But her favorite hobby started when she became Grandma to Charlie and Caroline. Her love for them was matched only by the esteem they had for her, and she loved to attend school concerts, bring them to and from their 4-H activities each week, sew with the kids, and having them stay with Ron and her for a few days each December, where they always baked and made Hanukkah breakfast pancakes. She was known for her near-flawless memory (aided by her trait as a meticulous note taker and organizer of information), her superb penmanship, and her perfect hearing that made it impossible to “get anything by her”. Few people knew that she was a proud breast cancer survivor in recent years, and she faced chemo, radiation, and surgery with strength and determination. She beat cancer, and the family’s sincerest gratitude is extended to the amazing team at the UConn Cancer Center (particularly her favorite nurse in the infusion center) and her surgery team at Hartford Hospital. Martha is survived by her loving husband, Ronald, of Bloomfield, her son, Jon, of West Hartford, to whom she was a great mother (or “Moogie” as she was occasionally called), her daughter-in-law, Yuliya Metelitsa-Moss (of whom she was equally loving), and her two grandchildren, Charlie and Caroline. She is also survived by her loving and compassionate brother in law, Ron Schwartz. Funeral Services will be held on Monday, December 23, promptly at 10:00am at Temple Sinai, in Newington, CT. A virtual option will be available upon request. Please call the synagogue for more information, at 860-561-1055. In lieu of flowers, you may contribute to the UConn Health Cancer Center, to the West Hartford Women’s Chorale, or to Westmoor Park in West Hartford.