Pat Mosley

Enos Mills with Camera

Sadly, Pat passed away on December 4th, 2020 at the age of 88. She was just a delightful person and very dedicated to her work for the Sierra Club. We will miss her and send our sympathy to Ben and rest of Pat's family.Â
Pat Mosley was a devotee of John Muir for many years, serving as both a volunteer and as a ranger at the John Muir National Historic Site in Martinez, California, making many connections among other Muir enthusiasts.
In 1988, after the Sierra Club's LeConte Memorial Lodge was designated a National Historic Landmark and the National Sierra Club took over management from its local chapters, she was hired as the first Curator by that title of the LeConte Memorial Lodge now the Yosemite Conservation Heritage Center, in Yosemite National Park. She served for nine years (1988-1995, and again in 1997 as co-curator), greatly reinvigorating the LeConte Lodge program.
After raising a family of five children, she re-entered college at age 47 in 1979 and graduated in 1981 from Diablo Valley College with degree studies in English Literature, Humanities, and Environmental Biological Science.
In 1984, her personal interests came together: "God, people, and the natural world." She became a volunteer and an interpretive ranger at the John Muir National Historic Site in Martinez. She was impressed by the historical data and personal letters and writings that John Muir had turned from the tyrannical deity that his father Daniel preached to the Loving God of Creation - the beauty of nature.
Pat initiated a volunteer program at the Lodge, developed an extended library and a children's program; and organized three to five weekly evening programs on Yosemite, conservation, and studies in nature. She took seriously her aim to educate, inspire, and "love people into conservation." She found that Yosemite is the ultimate classroom. She wrote, "One of my regular speakers was David Brower, who was an inspiration to me as to countless others until his death in November, 2000."
Pat explains that many of the people she met in Yosemite were a great inspiration: "I have gotten to know some wonderful people in Yosemite. I knew three legends. Dr. Carl Sharsmith was the first high country ranger and served 68-years in Tuolumne. He died at age 92 after his last summer's service ended. I spent a lot of time with him as well as with Ferdinand Castillo, gatekeeper at Tioga Pass, and Shirley Sargent, Yosemite's writer. We all shared many campfires and had the same passion for wilderness protection, love and care for the visitors, and a desire to gently help them want to conserve this place for future generations."
Pat also became acquainted with a famous character from Boron, California and fellow Muir enthusiast, George Swain., for whom she wrote a personal tribute. (Off-site link).
During her time as curator for LeConte Memorial Lodge, Pat lived in a 12' by 15' tent cabin and "came to love the simple life of reading and entertaining like-minded people (and no bathroom to clean)."
Since retirement Pat has served on the Board of Directors of the John Muir Association, sponsored a "Nature Book Club," and traveled to Kenya, Israel and Greece, Switzerland, Austria, and Germany. She was "most impressed with these countries and the ways they are working for conservation."
Her personal philosophy embraced a warm, inclusive view of religion. She says, "We are all discovering that our understanding of God has been too limited as we learn the intricacies of all creation, how all is connected and all began with God. We need to remember that 'What we do to the earth, we ultimately do to ourselves.' We are indeed stewards of the earth. John Muir summed it up honestly: the battle for conservation 'is a part of the eternal conflict between right and wrong.'"

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