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Carol Moser was born in Twin Falls, Idaho and the youngest of four children born to Rex and Jessie Greer during the baby boomer generation. Although a solid middle-class family, Carol’s parents provided much for all of their children, including music and dance lessons, and saved enough money to put all of their children through college. Her father’s job as an irrigation consultant moved the family to Kennewick, Washington when Carol was entering the seventh grade.
Education was a priority at the Greer household, and Carol’s older brother and sisters set the bar high. She graduated from Kennewick High School in 1973 as the class valedictorian, and received a music scholarship to attend Pacific Lutheran University where she earned her Bachelor’s in Music Degree in Piano Performance. At the encouragement of her mother, Carol spent a year abroad and chose to attend the University of Oslo in Norway studying Norwegian and working as an au pair. It was during this period that she learned the value of a public transportation system.
Carol settled in Seattle following her European experience and worked for several years in advertising, and then landed a job as a customs clerk for Sea-Land Service. During this period she met Ken Moser, a geologist working for Golder Associates. They were married in 1981, and bought a house on Queen Anne Hill, and became parents to two children, Derek, and Emily. Carol earned her Masters in Business Administration from Seattle Pacific University in 1987, but became a stay at home mother after Derek was born.
Ken’s job relocated the family to Mt. Laurel, New Jersey, and Carol found part-time employment at the YMCA where she taught and marketed a new program called “You and Me, Baby” for new mothers and their babies, and became an active member in the Newcomers Club. When the family moved in 1991, Carol started the Willowbrook Community Association in her newly developing neighborhood in Richland, using the bylaws from the New Jersey club. She also helped form the Willowbrook Homeowners Association in order to take over the irrigation and landscaping responsibilities for the common areas.
Carol was busy helping in the school classrooms, teaching piano, and being a soccer mom, but the lack of sports fields in South Richland spurred her to petition the City Council and get appointed to the Richland Parks Commission in 1992. In July of 1995, she was appointed by the City Council to fill a vacancy, and won her first of three elections that fall. She served as Mayor Pro-Tem for four years under two mayors, and participated in over twenty boards and committees during her ten year tenure on the Council. She lobbied in Olympia and Washington D.C. for city and transit projects, and served on the board of directors for the Association of Washington Cities, the Freight Mobility Strategic Investment Board, and the Municipal Reseach Services Center.
In 2006, Governor Gregoire appointed Carol to the Washington State Transportation Commission as an Eastern Washington representative, and in 2007, was selected by the Commission and appointed by the Governor to chair the Aviation Planning Council.
Ken now works as a project manager for Vista Engineering Technologies in Kennewick. Carol's son, Derek, graduated in May from Texas A&M University with a BS in chemical engineering. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force and will begin pilot training in November. Carol's daughter, Emily, is a senior at Western Washington University majoring in Art Education.
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