A strong work ethic
Seaside attorney, judge, fi sherman
Bob Moberg retires after a fulfi lling career
R
Robert Moberg, a Seaside attorney
and municipal judge who is retiring
this month, remembers Alderbrook as a
wonderful place for a boy to grow up.
There was the river where a child could
VZLP¿VKDQGERDWDQG\RXFRXOGVHOO
WKHFUDZ¿VK\RXIRXQGIRU„DGR]HQ
His family had a duck shack upriver,
and although Moberg didn’t care for
hunting he enjoyed the family outings
and the Sand Island (corned beef) stew.
There was work, too. Moberg was
racking nets for his gillnetter father,
and working as a boat-puller, before he
was 10 years old. “My father believed
in the work ethic,” Moberg says. At a
very young age he was also working in
the family business, which made cedar
FRUNVIRU¿VKLQJQHWV
Bob Moberg’s grandfather, Carl,
arrived in the United States from Swe-
GHQ LQ DW WKH DJH RI KDYLQJ
worked his way to Ellis Island, prob-
ably as a cabin boy. The family had
been gillneters in Sweden, so he took
to the trade immediately upon arriving
LQ$VWRULD$OWKRXJKQHYHUIXOO\ÀXHQW
in English, he became chairman of the
Union Fishermen’s Cooperative Pack-
ing Company and CEO of Columbia
Hospital.
David E. Moberg, Bob’s father,
operated a dredge and was a gillnetter
“as far back as I can
remember,”
says
his son. He owned
an Alderbrook drift
right, a diver drift
ZKHUH QHWV ¿VKHG
the bottom, and was
a hardhat diver who
cleared the drift to
prevent the nets
fouling. In the late
1940s he purchased
the cork mill at the
foot of 49th Street in Astoria and oper-
ated it until the advent of cheap plastic
corks put him out of business. After that
he became the beach boss for Bumble-
bee Seafoods.
While his father was gone to Alas-
ND%RE0REHUJ¿VKHGZLWKKLVIDWKHU¶V
gillnetter. “We’d fend for ourselves,”
he recalls, “I’d get out of high school
DQGODWHUFROOHJHLQ0D\DQG¿VKWKH
drift right for May and June.” In July,
Moberg would go to Alaska, and in Au-
JXVWKHZRXOGEHEDFNLQ$VWRULD¿VK
ing below where the Astoria Bridge is
today. “This was almost always done at
night, and the jetties were a real danger
WR ¿VKHUPHQ´ 0REHUJ VD\V ³3HRSOH
lost their lives doing it.”
“Thinking back on it,” Moberg says
today, “it was very dangerous, but it
was what young people did in Astoria
at that time. It was part of the work eth-
ic, to contribute to the family.”
$W 0REHUJ EHJDQ ¿VKLQJ LQ
Bristol Bay, which was more danger-
ous because of high winds and a tidal
range twice that of Astoria, but other
interests entered his life at this time.
:KHQ KH ZDVQ¶W ¿VKLQJ KH EHJDQ DW
tending Willamette University as an
undergraduate and then as a law stu-
dent, interning for state legislators Bill
Holmstrom and Ted Bugas. The other
interest began as a chance meeting with
an attractive young woman from Palm
Springs who was working in an Alas-
kan cannery. Moberg’s interests in law
and Kathy Moberg have both lasted a
lifetime.
A new phase of Moberg’s life began
when he entered law school in Salem.
For two years while he studied law,
he interned with
the Marion County
District Attorney; he
ZDV RQH RI WKH ¿UVW
students to take ad-
vantage of the new
student appearance
law, which allowed
law students to make
court appearances in
misdemeanor cases.
Moberg was also in
the National Guard
for six years.
0REHUJ JUDGXDWHG LQ DQG
ZRUNHGLQWKHVDPHRI¿FHIRUWZR\HDUV
before moving to Seaside as an em-
ployee of attorney Steve Campbell; he
soon became a partner.
+HFRQWLQXHG¿VKLQJSDUWWLPHXQ
til 1980; by then his law practice was
established. He was an eventual partner
‘It was what young
people did in Astoria
at that time. It was
part of the work
ethic, to contribute
to the family.’
4 | March 19, 2015 | coastweekend.com
Submitted photo
Bob Moberg, right, and his brother, Alan, are pic-
tured on their boat having just come through a
Bristol Bay storm to deliver fi sh to a Bumblebee
cannery.
was Bill Canessa, with whom he had
ZRUNHGLQWKH%ULVWRO%D\¿VKHU\
“I can honestly say that I loved and
UHVSHFWHG WKH ¿VKHUPHQ EXW QRW WKH
work,” Moberg says, “although we
made pretty good livings.” Neither he
nor Kathy had to borrow a dime from
their parents for their college expenses.
Four decades after arriving in Sea-
side, the departure of Moberg will leave
WKH RI¿FHV RI 0REHUJ DQG 5XVW ZLWK
three attorneys. Moberg has, he says,
“done it all” in the course of his legal
FDUHHUEXWFDPHWRVSHFLDOL]HLQHVWDWH
planning. Today he remains a consul-
WDQWWRWKH¿UP
Shortly after moving to Seaside,
Moberg was appointed Seaside mu-
nicipal judge, handling misdemeanors
IURP WUDI¿F FLWDWLRQV WR VKRSOLIWLQJ
assault and disorderly conduct. “At the
time,” Moberg remembers, “it was held
in the old city hall. I’d walk across the
VWUHHWIURPP\RI¿FHDQGXSWKHULFNHW\
stairs.” Moberg held court on Monday
and Wednesday evenings, “accommo-
dating people who had to work” until
his retirement this year.
Moberg doesn’t have a legal philos-
ophy so much as a desire to help people
caught in unfortunate circumstances.
Photo by Dwight Caswell
Bob Moberg, a Seaside attorney and judge, is retiring from his law fi rm, Moberg & Rust.
Submitted photo
The Moburg boat fi shes Alaska waters.
“We’ve never had legal aid here,” he
observes, “and I’ve done a lot of pro
bono work, sometimes on purpose and
sometimes not. Helping people in need,
in crisis, when you can actually help
someone with a legal problem, that’s
rewarding.”
Moberg doesn’t plan to do much
¿VKLQJ LQ UHWLUHPHQW +LV WLPH ZLOO EH
taken up with family, the Rotary Club of
Seaside, the Oregon Community Foun-
dation, and Our Lady of Victory Catho-
lic Church. Not surprising in a man who
¿QGVKLVUHZDUGLQKHOSLQJRWKHUV
Coastal Life
Story by DWIGHT CASWELL