When David Moore ’01 met his future wife Sarah Boser ’01 when they were students at Saint John’s University and the College of Saint Benedict, Moore was already formulating big plans.
Just maybe not this particular plan. Or as many of them.
“We are blessed to have seven tax credits – I mean, children – whose age range is between 1 and 14,” Moore said from the 10-acre hobby farm in rural Oak Grove, Minnesota, where David and Sarah choreograph their family. “It goes without saying that things get chaotic.”
Things also get rewarding, including a new honor: Moore was selected last fall as the 2021 Working Dad of the Year by Allianz Life Insurance, the Minneapolis-based company for which he works as a business analyst specialist.
“It’s a culmination of years of hard work, not only at home but also in my workplace and being seen as a leader that does high-quality work,” said Moore, whose award was part of a national program sponsored by Working Mother Media to recognize exemplary employees and parents at selected large companies. “I think people know my character, who I am and how I relate to others.”
Moore’s marriage, family, career and rewards all had their roots at Saint John’s, where the tenets of everything was ultimately about building character.
“Really, it set the foundation,” he said.
David and Sarah were married in 2003 after their Collegeville connection.
“I actually proposed to my wife at Saint John’s, right there on Lake Sagatagan,” David said. “It was in the dead of winter. I had my brother string some Christmas lights around a park bench.
“It was freezing cold, but she said ‘yes,’ I think she said yes just to get out of the cold.”
David graduated with a peace studies degree and worked for several years at a nonprofit organization before transitioning to his career as a business analyst, while Sarah worked as a nurse in Boston before they started having kids.
First came Madeline (14). Then William (12). Then followed Ethan (11), Olivia (9), Samuel (7), Simon (4) and Charlotte (1).
“I don’t know if there ever was a master plan,” said David, who has just one brother (Sarah has five sisters). “The kids just came out and they were all good-looking, so we just kind of kept going.
“And then we had some, and I thought ‘This is kind of fun!’ Someone once referred to me as an ‘Amish analyst,’ ” said Moore, who works mostly at home for Allianz.
David and Sarah are done adding to the family roster now, but there’s still plenty of work left to do.
“Knowing our family purpose enables me to find success in the workplace and manage our time to live a fulfilled life,” said Moore, who falls back on his SJU experience both at work and as a parent.
Someday, David would like that experience passed along to his family’s next generation.
“On, 100 percent,” he said. “It was a life-changing, transformative time to be up there at Saint John’s.”
David Moore ’01, Sarah Boser ’01 and their children