Republican-American (Waterbury, CT) - November 22, 2007
Deceased Name: Dr. John W. Mosch Longtime Waterbury dentist
NAPLES, Fla. - John Woodrow Mosch, DDS, 90, formerly of Waterbury, Conn., died Monday, Nov. 19, 2007, at his home in Naples. He is survived by his wife, Therese Flanagan Mosch of Naples. His first wife, Ruth Lux Mosch, predeceased him.
Dr. Mosch was born March 5, 1917, in Galeton, Pa., son of Otto Carl and Mable (Burrows) Mosch. He served as a captain in the Army Air Corps Dental Corps from 1942 to 1946 at the dental clinic in Fort Benning, Ga. He received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Pennsylvania Dental School in 1941, where he was a proud member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, Delta Chapter, and served as comptroller from 1938 to 1939.
He practiced in Waterbury from 1946 until his retirement in 1982. He was a pioneer in implant dentistry and the first to bring the technique to the area. His expertise in crown and bridge work restored many patients' smiles. In 1961 he moved his practice from downtown Waterbury to 714 Chase Parkway, where he organized the construction of a condominium medical building that housed numerous practices as well as his own. He dedicated his professional life to establishing one of the largest dental practices in the area.
Throughout his life he remained very close to his seven brothers and sisters and organized annual family reunions. He often reminisced about the pleasures of growing up in rural Pennsylvania and used his wilderness and metalworking skills as a Cub Scout leader in Middlebury.
Besides his wife, he leaves two brothers, George Mosch MD of Coudersport, Pa., Paul Mosch DDS of Pittsburgh, Pa; two sisters, Evelyn Howell of Greenville, N.C., Donavieve Thompson of Erie, Pa.; a daughter, Patricia Mintz and her husband, Joseph, of Carlsbad, Calif.; a son, John Woodrow Mosch Jr. and his wife, Beverly, of Bethlehem, Conn.; seven grandchildren, Anne Thurlow of Woodbury, Conn., Kimberly Stone of Roanoke, Va., Sara Dornsife of Austin, Texas, Rebecca Randich of Seattle, Wash., Joshua Mintz of Los Angeles, and Ledlie and Carter Mosch of Bethlehem, Conn.; and several great-grandchildren.
Dr. Mosch was a member of the Middlebury Congregational Church and the Country Club of Waterbury, where he won many golf trophies during his 50-year membership. After retirement he traveled extensively and continued to enjoy golfing at Wyndemere Country Club in Naples until two years before his death. He was a founding member at Wyndemere in 1981. During retirement he also developed a keen interest in making leaded glass objects, a fitting art form for a dentist.
A memorial service will be held 2 p.m. Monday, Nov. 26, at the Middlebury Congregational Church. Burial will be private.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Mosch Family Fund at the Connecticut Community Foundation, 43 Field St., Waterbury 06702; or Avow Hospice of Naples, 1095 Whippoorwill Lane, Naples, FL 34105.
At one point during the Second World War Dr. Mosch was the medical officer assigned to a field hospital in Burma where medics and supplies were dropped in by glider to an old airstrip. On the way overseas his appendix burst and he was returned to Fort Benning. The scar from the surgery was a constant reminder of extremely hazardous duty narrowly missed.
2007 Republican-American