We’ve created the Restoration Place Vineyard Fund in memory of our dad, Gil Moegerle. In lieu of flowers or gifts, we invite contributions to help maintain and grow Restoration Place—a place of rest, renewal, and family legacy.

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Our father, Gil Moegerle, was always a dreamer. He could take the most ordinary parts of life and make them magical. This attribute showed up early in his life where, as a child, he sought to stretch ideas and experiences to their fullest potential. One year he got a radio transmitter for Christmas that came with strict instructions, based on federal regulations, NOT to tamper with or expand its broadcasting capacity. When Dad told this story he said the instructions only sparked curiosity, “what exactly was the broadcasting capacity of this transmitter?”

Down in the basement of his childhood home he coiled the radio’s wires around the exposed metal plumbing, rightly suspecting the modification would boost its capacity. He then had his brother’s get in the family car, find the station he was transmitting on, and drive as far out as the signal was now capable of reaching. Much to his delight, he had taken the presented range on the box and expanded it TENFOLD.

He continuously looked for ways to expand and extend potential in his teen years, his college years, in his early career and in his young family years, always striving to maximize joy. After walking through the heart break of two marriages that ended in divorce, he prayed that God would not give our family a lesser story, but a greater one. He believed with all his heart that God was the original expander of joys. Out of that prayer, a dream was born: a family vineyard.

For decades he described this dream in growing detail to us, his children, and shared it as a bedtime story to his grandchildren—one day we would plant the vines together, ride four-wheelers through the rows, gather the harvests, and stomp the grapes with our feet. He named this future family vineyard Restoration Place, inspired by Psalm 23 and John 14, passages that speak of God’s goodness and provision.

In 2015, Dad retired and moved to Redding, CA, to pursue that dream. Instead of seeking to buy an already established vineyard, his heart was captivated by a 4.5-acre property in Jones Valley and the prospect of planting a brand-new vineyard himself. When his oldest grandson Isaiah and his soon-to-be bride Jasmine first visited the new property, they were inspired to have their wedding there. For Dad, these were layers of joy upon joy, and our family immediately got to work stretching the potential of not just a vineyard but a wedding venue and the start of the next generation of our family.

Todd joined his father in this dream and they moved in together, often walking the land in prayer; envisioning what new additions could be made. From taming the property’s abundant and entirely undesirable crop of poison oak to ridding its paths of stones and smoothing out the hills in preparation for the vines Dad had long dreamed of growing.

In 2018, after much study, digging, trenching, irrigating, running electrical lines, and fencing, Dad hosted a family Easter weekend wherein three generations of our family came together to plant the first 300 vines. It was a holy moment of laughter, labor, and legacy.

The land wasn’t just soil and vines anymore; it was a place where covenant and family legacy took root.

In the years that followed, Restoration Place was host to 11 weddings, most of which were entirely free of charge. With each glorious event, Dad shared how honored he was to witness such sacred moments, often praying with families that God would bring blessing, healing, and restoration to their stories too.

Restoration place became a gathering place—family Easter plantings, Bible studies, missionary retreats, graduation dinners, and countless meals shared.

In March of this year, Dad made the difficult decision to release the property, knowing he could no longer maintain it. What he didn’t know was that one of his grandsons, Jacob, and his wife Kenzie, along with their two daughters, Daisy and Maple, were preparing to purchase the property themselves. In April 2025, the vineyard passed into their hands. For Dad, this was one of the greatest gifts—his dream would live on through the next generation.

In a beautiful, full-circle moment and additional revelation of God’s capacity to expand layers of joy: When Jacob and Kenzie were dating, we learned of a special connection to the property. Kenzie’s parents, early in their marriage, had lived in the very same house, on the very same property, that Dad had purchased. Now she, with Jacob and their daughters, were returning to a home that had blessed her family as much as ours. Restoration Place has truly proven to be a place of story and legacy, connection, and God’s gentle fingerprints.

On September 19, 2025, our Dad went to be with Jesus. While we grieve his passing, we also rejoice in the legacy he leaves. To honor him, we’ve created the Restoration Place Vineyard Fund. In lieu of flowers or gifts, we invite you to contribute to this fund. Every dollar will help Jacob and Kenzie maintain the dream Dad started—to keep Restoration Place a place of rest, renewal, and family for generations to come.

This vineyard isn’t just vines in the ground. It’s the story of a man who believed God could take brokenness and turn it into beauty. A man who took good things and turned them into great things. It’s his legacy, and now it is ours to carry forward.