April 8, 1939 – September 26, 2024
Sanford Alexander Moss III (Sandy) passed away on September 26, 2024, quietly in the presence of his loving family. He was in his 86th year of life.
Sanford had a happy life as a naturalist, teacher, devoted husband, and beloved father. He was born in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania on April 8, 1939, the son of Mildred Jeanette (Jean) Newton and Sanford A. Moss Jr. After graduating from Ridley Township High School, he matriculated at Yale University where he majored in Zoology, and then earned a Ph.D. in Comparative Vertebrate Morphology from Cornell University in 1965. He married the love of his life, Barbara Eleanor Edinger, a zoology graduate student at Cornell, just before receiving his doctorate.
After research and teaching at Yale, Sanford and Barbara moved to Westport in 1967 when Sandy was offered a position as an assistant professor at a new school, Southeastern Massachusetts Technological Institute, now the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. Over the course of his 35-year tenure, Sandy helped to build a strong, well-respected program in marine biology with colleagues who became dear friends. He retired in 2002.
Sandy taught a variety of undergraduate and graduate level biology courses, seminars on an array of topics, and, at one point, because of his known skill at writing and his range of interests, he even taught an English composition class for freshmen. He taught and mentored many graduate students who went on to successful careers in science.
Most of his research concerned sharks and other elasmobranch fishes, with research papers published in journals such as Journal of Zoology (England), American Midland Naturalist, Science, and Copeia. Sanford published two books: Sharks—An Introduction for the Amateur Naturalist (Prentice Hall) 1984andNatural History of the Antarctic Peninsula(Columbia University Press) 1988. Sanford was a member of several scientific societies, such as Sigma Xi, and served as secretary and newsletter editor of the American Elasmobranch Society. He also spent many years working with the College Board to write and grade the Advanced Placement Biology Exam.
Sanford was active in the Westport community as a member, or in the leadership, of an assortment of organizations such as the Westport Lions Club, the Westport River Improvement Committee, the Westport Land Trust, and the Bristol County Beekeepers Association. He often took on the responsibility of writing for and editing newsletters produced by these organizations. He was a leader for Cub Scout Pack 63. He also gave talks to various school and community organizations on the many fields and interests in which he became an expert.
During his lifetime, Sandy explored an ever-expanding diversity of interests. His stepfather, James Sellers, introduced him to hunting and fishing, and fostered Sandy’s love of the natural world. Sandy kept bees, built a cabin by hand in the Maine woods, spent considerable time hunting and fishing, playing the trombone, and woodworking, which led him to becoming a collector of antique woodworking tools and an expert in planes made in the US. Intrigued by the reputed intelligence of pigs, he raised a barrow pig, Handel, to see if he could train a “hunting pig.” Handel, who was well known by the neighbors, was featured in Sandy’s animal behavior classes and went on hunting trips to Maine. However, Handel did not hunt game well, as the first grouse he flushed scared him, and he preferred to retrieve acorns.
After his retirement from teaching, Sanford was perhaps even busier with his ever-evolving interests. He served as a docentat the New Bedford Whaling Museum for 15 years, and this work led him to become interested in the history of New Bedford and to collect whaling tools, paintings and prints, scrimshaw, and Pacific Northwest Native American art and artifacts. He frequented auctions and flea markets in pursuit of interesting items and conversations with like-minded collectors. Sandy involved his family in all that he did, whether by having his wife and children accompany him, his grandsons help him make You Tube videos, or by eagerly sharing his latest find over family dinners.
Sandy is survived by his wife of 59 years Barbara Eleanor Edinger Moss, children Melissa E. Moss (Brian Davis), Jeffrey A. Moss (Polly Cass Moss), Stephen L. Moss, grandchildren Abraham Moss and Birch Moss, sisters Ann Moss Burger, Susan Sellers Mueller, and brother Barry Sellers. He was predeceased by his brother Donald Sellers.
A Celebration of Life will be announced at a later date.