Mrs. Eloise R. Moore

Eloise Rebecca (Day) Moore was born on January 15, 1915, to Arthur and Alma Mae (Roten) Day, of Houston, Texas. Eloise Moore, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, passed from this life on April 12, 2013.

She is predeceased by her husband, L. O. “Dick” Moore, and three sisters, Laura Ellen Day, Ruth Margery Day, and Grace Day Youngblood.

She is survived by her son, Richard Louis Moore and wife Gail Donovan-Moore, daughter Katherine Janelle Moore, granddaughters Debb (Ramsey) Bidinger and husband Scott, Terry Ramsey and husband Mark Warren, step-grandsons Mathew Donovan and Kevin Donovan and wife Brianne, and two great grandchildren, Jack Ramsey Warren and Jenna Ramsey Warren. She is also survived by one brother, Ely R. Day and wife Marie.

Eloise was born in Houston, Texas and lived there all her life. Eloise and her sisters grew up in the Houston Heights area. After her mother’s early death when Eloise was only 10 years old, she and her sisters spent most summers with Roten relatives in Wharton, El Campo, and Victoria, Texas. In Houston, she attended Hamilton Junior High and graduated from Reagan High School in the Heights in May, 1932. In high school, she excelled in Spanish classes and Girls’ Softball.

Upon graduation from high school, she married Louis Otis “Dick” Moore on October 26, 1933. She met Dick at a local family owned service station, when he came in to purchase gas for his car, and she was with a girl friend who worked for her family at the service station. Eloise and Dick made their home in the Houston Heights area. Dick worked a full time job and Eloise was a homemaker. Their first child, Richard Louis Moore, was born while they lived at 1503 Herkimer, in the Houston Heights. Soon after Richard’s birth, they bought 4 acres of land in northwest Harris County, in an area known later as “Recreation Acres”, and began building their home there. Their daughter, Katherine Janelle Moore, was born four years later, completing their family. However, Eloise’s brother, Ely Day, and Dick’s nephew, Charles Cody, came to live with them as teenagers until both entered the military several years later. Ely and Charles were like older brothers to Richard and Janelle. Dick, a very self-taught man, built the original house himself. Later, when more rooms were added, Richard worked with his father on the construction. Eloise and Dick lived at 6706 Chippewa Blvd in Recreation Acres for about 65 years

Eloise spent her early married years as a stay-at-home mom. She spent many hours working in her yard and flowers and in their large vegetable garden. Every summer she and Janelle spent hours canning produce from their garden, such as tomatoes, okra, green beans, pickles, beets, and potatoes. She and Dick also kept chickens, ducks, hogs, goats, rabbits, a milk cow, several other cows/calves, and one horse named “Dan”. The garden and live stock provided the family with eggs, milk, vegetables, and a variety of food for the family. The family dog, named Dash, a border collie, followed Richard and Janelle everywhere and protected them from snakes and other country critters. Janelle made pets of most of the animals, and always had several pet cats. Eloise loved sewing and made most of the clothes she and her daughter wore, from printed feed sack fabrics. Regular trips to the Feed Store were a family event, and Eloise and Janelle always looked forward to choosing the chicken feed in those special printed fabric sacks. She was also known to occasionally make shirts for Richard from those same printed feed sacks.

While her children attended Klein Schools, she was very involved in school activities and especially the Klein PTA. This forum provided her with an opportunity to interact with groups outside the home and provided many opportunities for her to grow and learn. She served in several capacities and in 1954 was elected as the Klein PTA President. She represented the Klein PTA at several local and state PTA conferences and seminars. During this time she also took several English/Literature courses via a correspondence program. Eloise always looked for self-improvement opportunities. Both Richard and Janelle recall that their Mother was always very supportive of their school studies at Klein and encouraged their many extracurricular activities. Eloise and Dick always attended and supported their children’s school programs, athletic events, and band exhibitions.

In the early 1950’s Eloise became very involved in the North Houston Home Demonstration Club. Such clubs proliferated in the greater Houston area during that time. They were coordinated by Mrs. Francis McCulloch, the Harris County Home Demonstration Agent at that time. Through this association, Eloise learned many new skills, especially in the areas of clothing construction, furniture refinishing and upholstery, landscaping, and a variety of other activities such as constructing crafts from copper, aluminum, glass, dried plants, etc. She entered items every year in the Tomball Harris County Fair and always brought home multiple first place ribbons. She became the Club’s landscape demonstrator and won acclaim for that work. She held other offices such as the Club Reporter and the Club President.

In the later 1950’s Eloise completed various courses in office machine operations and office management, in preparation for the time she would begin to work outside the home in the business world. Once her children were older, she worked in several full time jobs, the most long lasting being with the Texas State Department Surplus Food Program. She enjoyed both the experience of learning new skills and then being able to implement those skills for a salary. She remained in this position for a number of years.

Unknown to her family, Eloise had an interest in nursing. Following her daughter’s graduation from a BSN program in nursing in 1961, Eloise enrolled in a year-long vocational nursing program offered through the Houston Independent School District. She finished a very arduous year of study and clinical work with honors and in March of 1963 achieved licensure as an LVN (Licensed Vocational Nurse). She worked for several years at the Golden Age Manor, a nursing home in Spring Branch. Following that, she was hired by Memorial City General Hospital, located near the Memorial City Mall in Houston, where she was one of the few full time staff present for the grand opening of that hospital in 1971. During these years she and Dick often traveled and enjoyed frequent babysitting times with their two granddaughters, Debbie and Terry. Both the girls have fond memories of spending time at their grandparents’ home in the country and playing in the fields and woods. Eloise eventually retired from Memorial City General Hospital to care for her ailing husband, who passed away in 1986.

Eloise remained in her home in Recreation Acres until she could no longer care for the house and property herself. She always loved her yard and filled it with a large variety of plants and flowers. In 1995 she moved to Spring Shadows Retirement and Independent Living Center in Spring Branch where she lived for the next 10 years. She enjoyed the craft activities, reading, and sewing. Her health remained stable for quite some time but eventually she moved to Summerville Assisted Living Center in Northwest Houston in 2006. In 2010 she moved to Legend Oaks HealthCare and Rehabilitation Center at Willowbrook, where she lived until her death at age 98.

In many ways Eloise Moore’s adult life was similar to that of a pioneer woman. In their early years, she and her husband and children lived in a small wood frame house in the country, with a hand pumped water well and outside privy, while managing to raise their own vegetables and livestock. She did this while Dick worked full time at Cameron Iron Works and managed their big garden and numerous animals, and later as she entered the business world herself. Eventually they were able to add rooms to their home, as well as indoor plumbing and air conditioning. They always wanted more for their children. She and Dick put both their children through college with no outside financial assistance other than some income from the children’s’ summer jobs. Richard graduated from Texas A and M University and Janelle completed her degree at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Eloise and Dick were very proud that they could provide their children the formal education that they themselves did not have. Dick was very much the self-educated, self-taught husband and father, and Eloise was certainly a lifelong learner.

Eloise will be greatly missed by her family and friends.