An executive at a Boston-based mutual fund firm recently died out west at the age of 41.
| Robert Michael Moll Eventide Asset Management Director of Operations | |
On July 19,
Rob Moll fell about 100 feet to his death off of Barrier Peak in Mount Rainier National Park in Washington State, the
Tacoma News Tribune reports. Rob served as director of business operations at
Eventide Asset Management and hailed from Rowley, Massachusetts.
Robert Michael Moll, an alumnus of Cedarville University, started his career not as a fundster but as a journalist, working as a reporter for the Grayslake Times and Citizen Media before spending more than 15 years in various editing roles at Christianity Today. He also did communications work with Opportunity International, Trinity International University, and World Vision.
In 2016, he joined Eventide, an SRI-focused mutual fund firm, where he led marketing communications and public relations. The firm's tagline is "investing that makes the world rejoice."
Moll published two books:
The Art of Dying, in 2010 (after volunteering as a hospice chaplain), and
What Your Body Knows About God, in 2014.
"[Moll] wrote about how death has disappeared in modern life. Or at least, any conversation about our own mortality and the fleeting nature of life," former colleague
Bob Smietana writes in Religion News Service (
RNS). "Death has moved from the home into the hospital, and medical professionals have taken over much of the care of the deathly ill. And we have lost track of it."
Robin John, CEO and co-founder of Eventide,
remembers Moll as a "dear friend and colleague."
"I will always love and remember Rob," John writes. "Rob helped me personally to grow as a leader."
Former colleague
Ted Olsen writes in
Christianity Today that "few are so aware of their own mortality, their short time on earth, and the opportunity to seize our brief moment here with joy, curiosity, and rich relationships."
"I am in deep grief over Rob's death," Olsen writes. "Other than my wife, the person I'd most like to talk to about it is Rob himself. He'd have some wise things to say."
Al Hsu, Moll's longtime editor,
describes the fallen fundster-journalist as "wise beyond his years; gone before his time."
"I am still in shock at the news of Rob's untimely passing," Hsu states. "But he had prepared for his death many years before it came. His work as a hospice volunteer brought him to reflect deeply on the ancient Christian practice of ars moriendi, the art of dying."
Jeff Crosby, publisher of InterVarsity Press (
IVP), remembers Moll's "utter zest for living life to the fullest."
"Rob Moll's books and his work as a journalist demonstrated a depth of insight, integrity, and compassion that was an inspiration to his readers everywhere."
Moll is survived by his wife and four children. The family has set up a
GoFundMe page to raise money (as of this afternoon, they've raised more than $30,000) for 529s for the children and a
donation page with World Vision to raise money (in honor of Moll) for a community health clinic with clean water in Malawi.
Moll's younger brother,
Stephen Moll, is also
asking Rob Moll's friends and colleagues to write down their memories of Rob Moll and share them via email, to
mollstephen@gmail.com.
"With him gone, the experiences others had with my brother that I am not aware of are truly meaningful to me now," Stephen Moll writes. "Thanks for sharing them."
"Please join us in offering your prayers for Rob's family," Robin John writes. "We are comforted during this time because of Rob's strong faith and hope in Christ." 
Edited by:
Neil Anderson, Managing Editor
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