A Friend's Reflection
Norm Moyer August 3, 1940-June 26, 2020
I met Norm Moyer in the early Summer of 1977 either during my interview at Hughes Aircraft Company or on my first day of work. Norm was my bosses, bosses, boss—boss cubed as we would say in the day. I remember meeting him in his office which was rectangular in shape with him sitting behind a desk deep into the room at the far end, the room seemed to be poorly lit in my memory. I was nervous, humble, and grateful to have been given this opportunity at the Microelectronics Center in Newport Beach, California and it was Norm who was in charge—boss cubed. Hughes Aircraft had employees that proudly displayed their service pins of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, and even 40 years with the company. It was my Father’s Company, it was your Father’s Company.
As you might imagine, Norm and I did not run in the same mazes in those early days at Hughes. Norm was quiet, but I liken his quietness to be an almost ZenLike quality in that he would speak only when he could improve upon the silence. He was not big on gossip or small talk, he never said a bad word about anyone, he liked a joke and took great pride when he composed his own original joke.
Norm and I began to literally run in the same mazes in the early 1980s when a group of us at Hughes began to run at lunchtime--many of you are reading this blog now. There must have been a dozen or so of us that would run 4-5 miles from the plant down to Newport Beach just about every day. The bond of that lunchtime running group exists to this day, I am in touch with just about every one of them. The running extended into longer distance running and me along with others from the group ran many Marathons with Norm in the ’80s. Norm was a pretty good runner, right around 3 hours for a Marathon. I recently saw it written that Norm thought of himself as a nerd for the first half of his life and that he would spend the second half as an athlete. Well, let it be known, he was an athlete in that first half too.
The day came which I never thought would, Norm left Hughes and started his own company by the name of Sunshine Semiconductor. I really thought that Norm would stay at Hughes for life, his peer group had and I expected the same but Norm had a completely different vision. I may not have the quote absolutely right but I think that Norm told me that he “cold work for someone else designing chips or work for himself and design chips and collect the royalties and make more money”. As I checked in with Norm over the years during and after Sunshine’s operation, things worked out pretty well and I know it’s the truth because Norm only told the truth.
Norm was kind enough to take my family out on his sailboat to spread the ashes of both my Mother in Law and Father in Law. He did this for others too, quietly, not looking for any mention or credit-Norm was comfortable in his own skin. This was classic Norm, always willing to share the things he had to do nice things for others. It was Norm who always organized our trips to Iowa, using his Van, to Ride in the annual RAGBRAI event. Norm rode in that last week of July event at least 20 times. He rode his bicycle from coast to coast as well about 15 years ago self-contained (for you non-bicycle riders, that means he carried his tent, sleeping bag, and supplies and didn’t use hotels). Norm also organized other multi-day riding and camping adventures. It wasn’t a clique, everyone was welcome, everyone shared equally in the costs including Norm even though he did the lions share of the work and it was his Van that was always involved. I have heard it said that he bought that Van so he could go on bicycle trips with his friends. That was Norm.
On our trips to Hawaii, Norm made all the arrangements and we usually stayed in Hostels and other memorable places including his condo (and I really mean that). Sometimes there wouldn’t be enough beds for everyone so it was Norm who would volunteer to sleep on the floor and I was honored that he always asked me to be the one to share the discomfort with him. Very often, Norm and I would have to share a bed on the road and he knew I wouldn’t mind, I felt like I was his go-to guy to feel the pain-the the other guys shared beds too at times but I don’t think the gals did. On the last 2 trips to RAGBRAI, I felt especially honored that Norm asked me to drive an additional 4 hours to his brother Fred’s house to spend the night. You have to remember, we had just traveled 1800 miles at this point and I was delighted that Norm asked me. I really enjoyed meeting Norm’s brother’s Fred and Ron as well as his 3 children Michael, Sarah, and Daniel at RAGBRAI. The entire Moyer Family including Norm’s wife Mary holds a very special place in my heart.
I was lucky enough to go on 6 adventures with Norm. Three to Iowa, two to Hawaii, and one from Oregon to San Francisco. I started blogging on the first trip and it was Norm and that first group of riders in Oregon that were so kind and encouraging when it came to my writing. Norm and others encouraged me to blog on other trips and I am so fortunate to have these six trips documented. Norm would always give me writing suggestions geared towards making sure I included everyone in the group.
I heard the news last Thursday. It still seems impossible. Norm and I were signed up to ride RAGBRAI this year but it was canceled so I was thinking about 2021. Every time I receive an email with a picture of Norm from one of our bicycle buddies my eyes well up with tears. I miss him. I will treasure the memories. That Summer forty-three years ago was a pivotal point in my life. Many life-changing events occurred in that Summer not the least of which was meeting Norm who I would develop a friendship with over the next 4 decades. Norm was a role model for me. I saw attributes in Norm that I admired and incorporated into myself. I would not be the person I am today if I had not met Norm Moyer, my friend, my boss cubed.
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/latimes/obituary.aspx?n=norman-e-moyer&pid=196432433 (great picture of Norm on this link)
Norm in the late 60’s early 70’s. He still has the car. Nerd? Looks pretty cool to me.
Such a beautiful tribute