Robert Moulis lost six of his children in one haunting night on the North Side.

Driven by the tragedy, he went on to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for Children's Hospital. He and his wife, Rose, also funded the hospital's library.

Mr. Moulis, businessman and benefactor, died Sunday in Sudbury, Mass., at age 92. The cause was heart and kidney failure, said his daughter, Rosemarie Outly, of Sudbury.

She was born in 1954, less than two years after her six siblings died in a house explosion and fire.

The disaster began at 11:05 p.m. on Dec. 5, 1952, when a student driving home from Ohio State University lost control of his car on an icy street. He struck the retaining wall in front of the Moulis home. The car also bent the exposed gas line leading to the house at 1402 E. Ohio St.

Mr. Moulis called Equitable Gas Co. at 11:13 and asked for a crew to check the line.

The house blew up 15 minutes later, before repairmen arrived. A second explosion occurred six minutes after the first, setting the house on fire.

Robert Moulis and his wife made it out. Their daughter and five sons did not.

Killed were David, 13; Richard, 12; Louise, 11; James, 9; Gary, 5; and Robert, 4.

Mrs. Outly said her parents rarely talked about the tragedy in front of her. Still, 1952 was always on their minds.

Rose Moulis died of lung cancer in 1997, but the disease was only part of her pain. "She's had a broken heart for 45 years," Mr. Moulis told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

A coroner's jury cleared the motorist and the gas company less than a month after the children's deaths. It called the case "an unfortunate accident," not a crime.

The Moulises then sued in civil court and won. A jury in 1955 awarded them $322,000, finding that Equitable Gas failed to install the gas line in a reasonably safe manner and that its response after the car crash was not prompt enough.

Mr. Moulis and his wife eventually settled the case for $127,500.

He had been a purchasing agent for a truck line, but the judgment gave him the chance to start a different career and to throw himself into charity work.

In 1960, Mr. Moulis and partners went into the new business of fast food, opening McDonald's restaurants throughout the region. Mrs. Outly said the venture grew to some 30 restaurants. Her father sold his share, three restaurants, when he retired in 1988.

Outside of work, he was an integral part of The Pittsburgh Press and Post-Gazette Old Newsboys, which raised money for the Free Care Fund at Children's Hospital. Many business people and professional athletes were active in the cause, but Mr. Moulis stood out.

"His interest was more personal than the others," said Dick Macino, who oversaw public-service projects for the newspapers.

Mr. Moulis' involvement with the hospital did not stop there. He and his wife created the Moulis Children's Library & Family Resources Center, a haven on the seventh floor of Children's Hospital since 1992.

In addition to his daughter, he is survived by his son-in-law, Ken Outly, and two granddaughters, Amanda and Megan.

A Mass for Mr. Moulis will be celebrated at 9:30 a.m. today in St. Sebastian Church, Ross. He will be buried alongside his wife and their first six children at St. Mary Cemetery on the North Side.