It is with great sadness that our family announce the death of Daniel Maxwell Moziar, aged 86 years, at home on October 8th, 2022. He will be sorely missed.
Dan was born in Thunder Bay (Port Arthur) to Alex Moziar and Rosalia Moldoweic, Ukrainian immigrants. He is survived by his loving wife of 59 years, Susan Moziar (née Hinton). He was the proud and loving father of Caroline, Daniel, Michelle (d. 2011) and Elizabeth Ciaravella (Domenic). His children and grandchildren were his pride and joy. He was G-Pa to Gianmarco and Sofia Ciaravella and Felicity Moziar. He was pre-deceased by his brother Michael Moziar (d. 2015) and survived by his sister Rose Dandridge (Tony).
He attended Jumbo Gardens School and Port Arthur Technical before heading off to Queen’s University in Kingston. He graduated with a B.Sc. (’58) in Electrical Engineering and following graduation went on to Graduate Studies at the School of Business at the University of Toronto. He received his Professional Engineer designation in 1960.
His was accepted into the Junior Engineering Program at Ontario Hydro. At about that time, the computer industry was emerging. He came to Guelph in 1969 and was appointed Associate Director of Administrative Systems and Programming at the University of Guelph. After nine years he moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia to assume the position of Divisional Manager, Information Processing Division. Later he was appointed Vice President and Manager of Management and Information Systems at Midland Capital Corporation and returned to Toronto.
Dan spent over 40 years in the management and delivery of Information Technology Services in a variety of Industries. He was mentioned in “Who’s Who in Data Processing” in the 1980 edition.
His experience in the Energy industry included two major Power Generating and Distributing Companies - the former Ontario Hydro, and the former Nova Scotia Power Corporation. He served as the Chair of Guelph Hydro up to the critical restructuring under the Energy Competition Act of 1998. As Chair of Guelph Hydro, he oversaw a period when the utility invested in technology and reduced operation costs to the benefit of consumers. In this period, the utility was recognized with two industry awards, recognizing the improved operational performance and the contribution to the industry.
As Chair of the former Municipal Electric Association (MBA), he was deeply involved in the dialogue with the Ministry of Energy on industry restructuring issues and the Energy Competition Act. He also was involved in the restructuring of the MEA into the Electricity Distributors Association to better support the demands of the restructured industry.
He was fully conversant with the issues facing the industry and the economic importance of Energy to the Province of Ontario.
He was involved for many years with the Federal and Provincial Liberals.
Dan ran for Guelph City Council and was elected Councillor for Ward 2 for two terms in 2000 and 2003. He was appointed Returning Officer for the Riding of Guelph in the 2007 Ontario Provincial Election.
At the urging of his friend and classmate, Jim Bennett, a former Director of Queen’s Alumni, Dan founded the Guelph Branch of the Queen’s Alumni Association. Along with the late Frank Maine (‘Sc 59), the two of them established the Guelph Alumni Entrance Award that was to be awarded to a deserving student in Wellington Country. For this accomplishment, Dan received the Herbie Award from Queen’s Alumni Association.
Dan loved his farm in Eramosa Township, and he was never happier than working in the fields on his tractor, raising chickens, turkeys, or cattle. He underwent hip surgery in 1985 and that brought an end to his farming days. He traded in the farm for a cottage on William’s Lake in exchange for a more leisurely lifestyle and spent many happy hours there.
Dan had quite the gift for poetry and would often put some words together for a birthday, wedding anniversary, or retirement. He was also talented at making songs on the fly.
He enjoyed travelling and visited the Caribbean several times, Egypt and cruising down the Nile, England, Europe, and Eastern Europe including Yugoslavia, Romania, Hungary and Ukraine. The last trip was a cruise through the Panama Canal. For 38 years, he looked forward to participating in the gathering of the Gourmet Group. It was always a time for good food, good friends and often heated conversation.
Many thanks to Dr. P. Spadafora for his support throughout this long Alzheimer journey, Tess T. and her team of caring PSWs, Guelph General Hospital, the nurses at Bayshore Healthcare, Care Partners E-shift and CBI.
Resting at the Gilbert MacIntyre and Son Funeral Home Hart Chapel, 1099 Gordon St. Guelph, cremation has taken place. The family would like to invite friends and relatives to a Celebration of Life Drop In on Saturday, October 15, 2022 for a from 2:00pm – 5:00pm.
For those who wish, contributions may be made to the Guelph Alumni Entrance Award at Queen’s University (https://www.givetoqueens.ca/daniel-moziar) or Alzheimer Society of Waterloo Wellington (https://alzheimer.ca/ww/en).
Cha Gheill, Dad. You are at peace. We will miss you forever.