Date Created: 08/27/2014
Last Updated: 08/27/2014

In loving memory of Mary Moore
5/24/1924 - 8/11/2014

Location: Chicago, Illinois

Visits: 2,846

Mary Elizabeth Watts Moore, 90, formerly of West Lafayette, IN, passed away at home in Chicago on August 11, 2014.

She was born on May 24, 1924 in Reno, NV to the late Loyd and Ruth Watts. Mary grew up in Reno, NV and was a graduate of Billinghurst Junior High and Reno High School, Class of 1942. She graduated from University of Nevada at Reno, majoring in Math and French, in 1946.

In 1945, during her junior year in college, Mary married Bruce Kneeland Moore, former Superintendent of Schools in West Lafayette from 1968 – 1981. Bruce was the love of her life, as she was his, having grown up down the street from each other in Reno. Following her graduation from UNR, they moved to Cambridge, MA. From 1946 – 1948, she taught Spanish and Math at the Chapel Hill School in Waltham, MA while Bruce finished his education degree at Harvard. They then embarked upon job related moves to Geneseo, NY; Los Alamos, NM; Phoenix, AZ; Downey, CA and finally West Lafayette, IN in 1968.

During her life, Mary always stayed involved in the community. She was a long-standing member of PEO, a philanthropic educational organization for women, starting in 1959. She was also a member of Tri-Delta sorority, remaining active with the Purdue chapter for many years. She also served on the Alter Guild at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Lafayette. In addition, she enjoyed playing bridge and was a member of the Purdue Gourmet Group.

A devoted mother of three, Mary always delighted in spending time with her kids – loving family car trips across the US and later spending Christmases in West Lafayette, Chicago or NJ and many summers at Lake Tahoe, NV. She was a Purdue Boilermaker fan and enjoyed going to football and basketball games on campus. She took great pleasure in the outdoors - enjoying swimming, water skiing, and hiking - and also loved to cook and read. She also enjoyed cruises with friends and visited places all over the world from Europe to Asia to Africa.

Mary is predeceased by her husband, Bruce, on July 31, 1987, and two brothers, Richard Renford Watts on May 16, 2002 and Robert William Watts on December 9, 2008. She is survived by her daughter Valerie Moore and son-in-law Alan Stein of Ringoes, NJ and two sons, Craig S. Moore of Chicago, IL and Doug L. Moore of San Francisco, CA.

A memorial will be held at Lake Tahoe, NV in the summer of 2015. Donations may be made in Mary’s name to the Tahoe Rim Trail Association via the following link: https://www.tahoerimtrail.org/index.php?option=com_jdonation&view=donation&campaign_id=5&Itemid=1.

 
 
 
 

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By: Never Gone Wednesday, August 27, 2014
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