Carolyn Cusac Moon, who owned the Iowa 80 Truckstop with her husband Bill Moon, has died at age 81.

The Moons moved to Kansas City in 1965 to operate the Iowa 80 Truckstop in Walcott, Iowa, where Carolyn served as the chairman of the board and chief information officer until December 2016. Bill Moon died in 1992.

Today, after 28 expansions and remodels, Iowa 80 is overseen by the second generation of the Moon Family, and is part of the Iowa 80 Group, which owns several other truckstops and trucking-related service businesses.

Carolyn Moon was recognized as an early pioneer for women in the field of computer programming and graduated from Southwest Missouri State University with a degree in Mathematics in 1957. She was recruited to work for Lockheed Aircraft in California as a computer programmer and later worked at Boeing in Wichita, Kansas, as an engineering programmer, the only woman in the department at the time. While there she programmed mainframe computers and worked on engineering problems, mainly for the B-52 bomber.

Moon was an active member of the American Association of University Women in Davenport, Iowa, serving as treasurer. She was a founding member of the Natso truckstop and travel plaza organization, winning the group’s Distinguished Member Award in 2003. She was awarded the Iowa Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2000 from Ernst and Young and was inducted with her husband into the Business Hall of Fame by Junior Achievement of the Heartland.

Moon is survived by her son Will Moon, daughters Delia Meier and Carolyn Jill Moon, and grandchildren Bill Moon, Ben Moon, Sarah Moon, Nell Meier, Lee Meier, Lana Meier, Alexandra Seehuus, Abby Seehuus, Miriam Maikon, and Sarah Maikon.