Mary Ellen Moeller

Mary Ellen Moeller #18307

I feel incredibly humbled and honored to be in the company of PA Disc Golf Hall of Fame legends who paved the way for my FA65 World Championship in Orlando, Florida in 2021. Surviving the August Florida heat wouldn't have been possible without the help of my caddie and 40 year hubby, Tom.

I am a lifelong Pittsburgher and grew up on the North Side I graduated from Perry High School 1973, tripled majored at Slippery Rock State College (now SRU) and received a B.S. in Education(Elementary & Special Ed) and a B.A. in Accounting in 1977. I earned a Master degree in Education from Duquesne University in 1979. My teaching career included 8th grade Special Education, 8th grade Science, K-8 Science and 3rd grade in the Pittsburgh Public Schools, retiring after 37 years of teaching. I ran a training site for Special Olympics, training athletes for the state games. In 1981, at the PA Special Olympic games at West Chester State College, I met Tom Moeller, who became the PA Frisbee Coach for the International Special Olympics games in Baton Rouge, LA. We raised three children, Christine, Michael, and Joseph who are all PDGA members and High School Disc Golf Champions. We are now the proud grandparents of six grandchildren who already have PDGA numbers! I am also the past-president of the Butler Chapter of National Association Accountants (now Institute of Management Accountants).

Tom's passion was disc golf. Disc golf was something our family did together. Tom would take the kids out on Saturday to play while I cleaned the house. We participated in the World's Biggest Disc Golf Weekends at Schenley Park during the 90's. In 1999, I was diagnosed with cancer. As a three time cancer survivor, disc golf became my way to keep moving and stay alive. I joined the PDGA and began participating in tournaments.

In 2000, while reading the newspaper, I noticed an article requesting ideas for the Allegheny County parks. I tore it out and gave it to Tom. This was a great opportunity to add new disc golf courses to the area. Tom contacted the committee and was able to get the Deer Lakes course approved.

In 2001 we went to our first Am World's in Nashville, TN. During the second round, I received a call that my father had a heart attack. He passed before I could make it home. I stopped playing for a while because I associated his death with disc golf. In 2014 I retired and disc golf became our favorite pastime. I returned to Nashville in 2015 to finish playing the courses I had missed. We plaed Am World's in Madison in 2016, Quad Cities in 2017, York in 2019 where I barely finished because of lyme disease and finally Orlando in 2021 where I achieved the impossible and became the FA65 World Champion! I couldn't have accomplished any of this without the inspiration and support of my husband and best friend, Tom.