He was discharged in 1947 with the rank of T/Sergeant and entered Miami University, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree, followed by a Doctor of Laws from the University of Cincinnati. Moser was in private practice 25 years and also spent eight years as a part-time assistant prosecutor.
In 1979, Moser was appointed to the county common pleas court bench, where he served for 20 years without having election opposition.
Butler County Clerk of Courts Mary Swain worked in the Historic Courthouse as Moser’s judicial assistant and remembered him for his judicial intelligence, open-door policy and role as a practical joker.
“There just aren’t enough adjectives. There just aren’t. He did a little bit of everything. Just multi-talented,” Swain said.
“What a great man — kind, generous, extremely intelligent, caring. I worked for Judge Moser for 10 years. He, his bailiff, Orville Lunsford, and I worked as friends. Judge Moser was well-respected as a jurist, but also as a friend to the entire Butler County community.”
She recalled many practical jokes Moser played on those around the courthouse, including her.
The old courthouse at one time had a bit of a mouse problem, and Swain came in one morning to find what she thought were mouse droppings all over her desk. It was the work of the prankster judge.
“Turns out thistle seed looks like mouse droppings,” Swain said with a laugh. “Just one of the little practical jokes he pulled.”
She also described her former boss as an unpretentious man.
“Most days he walked to and from work at the courthouse from his home on the west side of Hamilton. In inclement weather, he would drive his old pickup truck. He could be found one day on the bench trying the most serious cases with knowledge and caring, and the next day taking a load of mulch home in the bed of his pickup truck, and the next day climbing on the roof of his son’s home to make a repair,” Swain said.
Moser served 17 years on the Butler County Board of Elections and 19 years as chairman of the Butler County Republican Executive Committee, in addition to chairing multiple financial campaigns for charitable organizations.
Following retirement from the bench in 1999, Moser took a Master Gardeners course, sponsored by the Ohio State Extension Service, and began donating his horticulture talents to the city of Hamilton and to the Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park. He spent four years as a member of the Hamilton Tree Board
During his 80s, Moser planted 467 trees in various Hamilton neighborhoods on behalf of the city. The Hamilton Parks Conservancy named a neighborhood park on Heaton Street “John R. Moser Park” in 2018.
Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser, who practiced in front of Moser, said he last saw his friend a couple months ago. For years they talked about memorable cases and milestone days in court, noting there always had to be an explanation that they were not related and their names were spelled differently.
Gmoser said that in later years, “I never saw Judge Moser without a wheelbarrow of dirt and usually petunias. I would honk and wave and we would have some laughs.”
Moser’s temperament was well-suited or the judgeship, Gmoser said.
“He was real joy in the courtroom. You never saw an angry moment in his life,” Gmoser said. “He was just an outstanding jurist.”
Moser married Shirley Keats in 1952 after they met at Miami, When she passed on Aug. 31, 2023, Moser was holding her hand.
Credit: Greg Lynch
Credit: Greg Lynch
Moser, along with his wife, were presented in 2000 with a Key to the City of Hamilton for sponsoring the Gateway sculpture towering over the plaza of One Renaissance Center on High Street. That was among many honors the couple received.
Moser and his wife had three children, 11 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
As were his wishes, Moser donated his body to the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. The family plans a memorial service celebrating the couples’ lives at The Presbyterian Church on Front Street in Hamilton on a date to be later publicly announced.
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