Army Maj. Evan J. Mooldyk, 47, Danville; officer dies after complaining of chest pain

During U.S. Army Maj. Evan J. Mooldyk’s tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, he frequently sent his mother photographs of himself in the field — weapon in hand, often many miles from the nearest base.

“I would ask him: ‘Evan, do you have to go out so much?’ ” said his mother, June Mooldyk. “He said: ‘If I send my men out, I go out.’ And good for him.”

The military, said Evan Mooldyk’s wife, Leslie, “was his love.”

Mooldyk, 47, of Danville, Calif., died Jan. 12 in the eastern Afghanistan province of Khowst, on the Pakistani border. His death remains something of a mystery. Mooldyk was athletic and healthy, but before his death, he had reported to his base infirmary that he was suffering from chest pains after exercising. He died two days later.

“He never had anything wrong with him,” Leslie Mooldyk said.

Evan Mooldyk was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., but grew up largely in Panama, where his father was a ship pilot on the Panama Canal.

After high school, Mooldyk enrolled at Auburn University in Alabama, where he took part in the Navy ROTC program. After graduation, he entered flight school in Pensacola, Fla., then trained at Moffett Field in Northern California. He was a Navy navigator for six years.

It was during his service in California — at a Navy ball — that he met his future wife through mutual friends.

Mooldyk left the military for 10 years, working mainly as a stockbroker, but was drawn back time and again, first with the California Army National Guard, then the Oregon National Guard, then the Army Reserves.

He completed a yearlong tour in Iraq in 2004 and 2005 and at the time of his death had nearly finished his tour in Afghanistan, where he was an intelligence and logistics officer.

He was attached most recently to the 19th Sustainment Command, 377th Theater Sustainment Command, based in Belle Chasse, La. Back home in Danville, a city east of Oakland where he and his family had moved shortly before he died, he had worked most recently as a sales manager at a packaging company. He had also lived for a time in Rancho Murieta, near Sacramento.

Mooldyk raised three children, all avid athletes. When he was home, he could frequently be found rushing them around to a variety of activities, including karate, horseback riding, lacrosse and baseball.

“He was really funny and bright,” his wife said. “Just a regular, good guy.”

Mooldyk’s relatives traveled recently to meet his casket at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. A separate memorial service was held in Danville.

In addition to his wife and mother, Mooldyk is survived by his father, Maarten; his sister, Lauren; and his children, 19-year-old Kelly, 15-year-old Connor, and 14-year-old Quinn.

scott.gold@latimes.com