Mark S. Moross

The friends of Mark Steven Moross are saddened to announce that Mark passed away on St. Croix, Wednesday May 21, 2014. He had just had his sixtieth birthday. Mark was born in Philadelphia, May 20, 1954. He attended a Catholic elementary school and LaSalle College High School in Wyndmoor, PA graduating in 1972. He was always very proud of the work he had done at that very prestigious school and he graduated fifth in his class. He attended LaSalle University in Philadelphia, taking five years to graduate with a degree in Philosophy in 1977. Mark spent his junior year abroad in Fribourg, Switzerland and he credited the time he spent there with changing the focus of his life. He earned his Master's Degree in Education from the University of the Virgin Islands in 1985. Mark had a number of interesting jobs as a young man. He worked for the American Civil Liberties Union, he drove a taxi, worked as a dump truck driver in a quarry and he worked as a waiter at the Club Comanche when he first came to St. Croix. Mark found his true passion in his life when he began to teach English at St. Croix Central High School in 1979 and he remained there until 2011 when he retired. Mark is remembered fondly by a great many students and Central faculty members for being an excellent teacher, for being the supervisor of the CHS Quiz Bowl team and for being a proud mentor to many students. He was a serious follower of Central's athletic teams, especially the soccer teams, with whom he occasionally travelled off-island to their tournaments and games. But he is perhaps remembered most fondly for his brilliant irreverent humor. Mark was a very well educated and cultured man who loved a number of things. He loved literature, reading, old classic movies and travel. On two occasions he secured grants for himself to study off-island during the summer; once he went to Israel and another summer he studied at Harvard. He loved music and had considerable knowledge of a wide range of types and styles from Reggae to Classical. He loved people and he had a great many friends, on-island and around the world. But at the top of list of Mark's loves was his passion for St. Croix, its people, its food, its music, its weather. He studied about and had in depth knowledge of its history, its culture, its flora and fauna. St. Croix was his home for all his adult life and leaves behind many friends here. Mark is survived by his parents, Aileen and John Moross of Philadelphia, two brothers and their wives: Jack and Denise(PA). Kevin and Robin(HI); one sister and her husband: Aileen and Gerry Meyle(PA); 3 nephews: Randy, Gregory and Gerry Jr. and two nieces: Kiah and Ann Marie. Mark is also survived by many special friends of who this is only a partial list: Mark Davis, Jane Little, Greg Johnson, Rosaleen Melone, Rita and Henry Nelthrop, Vernon and Consue Matthias, Sharon Williams and the Williams family, Tom Fickel, Monique Morris, Yevette Gordon McFarlane, Liza Pena, Kent Moorehead, Anna James, Luz Highfield, Celeste Durant, Timothy Pierre, Juliette Lowry, Inocencia Jayaratne, Gayle Washburn and the Washburn family. A Funeral Mass will be held on August 2, 2014 at 10AM at Our Mother of Consolation Church Chestnut Hill Ave Philadelphia. Relatives and friends are invited to call from 9-10AM at the church. Interment will follow in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.