Will Moon, Iowa football donor and owner of Iowa 80 truck stop, dies at 64

The accounting student whose name is attached to the University of Iowa’s endowment for the head football coaching position and who created an athletics excellence fund at the school grew up as a “truck-stop kid.”  

Will Moon raced around towering semis while his parents labored to grow what, six decades later, is now the massive, hugely popular Iowa 80 World’s Largest Truck Stop along Interstate 80 at the Walcott exit.

The longtime UI donor and namesake of the Moon Family Head Football Coach died on Thursday, July 16. He was 64.

“I was very saddened to hear about Will’s passing,” Hawkeye coach Kirk Ferentz said in a news release. “Will and his wife Renee have been very generous in their support of our program and Hawkeye athletics. Hawkeye student-athletes will benefit from their gifts for years to come.”

Moon arrived in Iowa City at the perfect moment for a football fan in the fall of 1979, just as coach Hayden Fry was beginning the revival of the Hawkeye football program, and Moon was captivated.

“From that point on, Iowa football was fun again,” Moon told the University of Iowa Center for Advancement in 2021.

Moon grew up working at the truck stop during the summers after his parents took over in the 1960s. His father, Bill Moon, an entrepreneur, bought the truck stop after he found the land for Standard Oil as construction of Iowa’s portion of I-80 neared completion. A year later, Bill Moon convinced Standard Oil to let him run the truck stop, and he took full ownership in 1964.

As a teenager, Moon became interested in the family business and its operations, and, with an aptitude for math, came to the University of Iowa to study accounting, paving the way for a successful business career and to take over the family business.

While at Iowa, Moon met his wife, Renee Breckenridge Moon. Their first date was at The Airliner in downtown Iowa City, where they watched the Hawkeye football team defeat Penn State. Ever since, they cheered for the Hawkeyes from inside Kinnick Stadium, in opponents’ venues and at bowl games.

Moon and his wife rank among UI Athletics’ most generous donors. Their support created an endowment fund for the operational needs of Hawkeye football, establishing the Will and Renee Moon Excellence Fund for unrestricted athletics initiatives, and providing leadership support for the Kinnick Edge Campaign to revitalize the north end zone. In recognition of this generosity, the UI permanently designated the football leadership position, ensuring that Moon Family Head Football Coach will be the official title held by Ferentz and all future UI head football coaches.

“Will was one of the kindest, most genuine people you could ever meet, and his love for the Hawkeyes was unwavering,” Iowa athletics director Beth Goetz said in a news release. “His generosity and loyalty helped shape Iowa Athletics, but it was the relationships he built and the way he cared for others that will be remembered most. He was a dear friend and truly part of the Hawkeye family.”

Visitation will be Monday, July 20, from 4-8 p.m. at Runge Mortuary in Davenport. Funeral services will be Tuesday, July 21, at 10 a.m. at Calvary Church of Walcott, followed by burial at Walcott Cemetery.

Jessica Rish is an entertainment, dining and education reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. She can be reached at JRish@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @rishjessica_