Homer J. "Bud" Moore Jr.

Homer J. “Bud” Moore, Jr., beloved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, passed peacefully from this world to be with the Lord on Saturday, the 9th of November 2019, surrounded by his family at home. Bud was born in Houston, on the 21st of December 1920. He graduated from St. Thomas High School in Houston, Texas, and attended Texas A & M University and the University of Texas, where he was a member of Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity. Bud joined the Navy in 1941, and after completing pilot training, served three years of active duty in the Pacific theater as Captain of a PB2Y amphibious cargo aircraft. In the spring of 1944, he married the love of his life, Doris Elaine Zwerneman. During this time, they lived in San Francisco where he was stationed and began to fulfill their dreams of raising a family. Following the war, they returned to Houston where they enjoyed a happy, full life together for 66 years with their family and friends. Doris went to be with the Lord on the 6th of March 2010, and Bud missed her every day.

Bud is survived by his six children: Terri Moore Blair and her husband Dr. Robert K. Blair, Jr.; Homer John Moore III and his wife Linda D. Moore; Susan Moore Freele and her husband Dr. Robert B. Freele; Harry Timothy Moore and his wife Nonie Moore; Gayle Moore Shadowens and her husband James R. Shadowens, Jr.; and Lori Moore Bynum and her husband Raymon Leslie Bynum, Jr. He loved his fourteen grandchildren and nine great grandchildren. Bud enjoyed having such a large family and was affectionately known as Bup or Granddaddy Bud. Until the end, Bud gathered the family and his friends at home to watch football games, golf tournaments or horse races, or just about anything he thought a group of people might enjoy. Bud was a strong leader and loved to share his general wisdom, especially his fishing wisdom, with his family.

Bud’s entrepreneurial spirit led him to become involved in many business and volunteer ventures throughout the years. After the war, he bought a farm and raised rice and cattle. He built the Moore Rice Dryer in 1954, which later became the Moore Rice Mill. He then ventured into the automobile business, ultimately owning and operating Bud Moore Chevrolet on the North Loop, which was the first Houston dealership to do business as a super market-freeway operation. He was one of the founders of Merchant’s Park Bank, as well as an automobile insurance company.

When Bud was not working, he spent all of his leisure time playing golf, flying, hunting, and fishing. Fishing was his greatest passion. He fished most of the world’s ocean and caught a variety of game fish, although speckled trout and redfish were his favorites. His love of fishing led him to become one of the founding members of the Gulf Coast Conservation Association (GCCA), which has become the largest such association in the United States, the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA). At the very beginning, the GCCA was founded by a small group of Port O’Connor fishermen who had the foresight to see that something had to be done to protect game fish.

Bud was a true storyteller, often entertaining groups with colorful stories of his adventures in the Navy, or flying, or fishing. At the age of 80, Bud decided to write down his most memorable stories, which he then published in a book titled “We’ve Been Fishing”. At the age of 94, Bud decided to write a couple of stories about flying, and he prevailed upon his family and friends to do the same. He ultimately compiled these into a second book titled “A Flight to Remember”.

Bud was a member of St. Michael Catholic Church, the Coastal Conservation Association, numerous fishing clubs and the River Oaks Country Club, where he and Doris enjoyed many years dining and visiting with friends.

The family is grateful for the special care and companionship provided by all of his caregivers, including Alan, Derrick, Diane, Donna, Gercel, Grace, Imogene, Jacquiline, J’Lysa, Lala, Lisa, Monica, Robert and Rosline.

A memorial service celebrating Bud’s life is to be conducted at ten o’clock in the morning on Tuesday, the 26th of November, at St. Michael The Archangel Catholic Church, 1801 Sage Road in Houston. Immediately following all are invited to greet the family during a reception to be held in the adjacent Parish Life Center.

In lieu of customary remembrances, memorial contributions in memory of Mr. Homer J. “Bud” Moore, Jr. may be directed to the Baylor College of Medicine Alkek Eye Center, 1977 Butler Blvd, Houston, Texas 77030 or The Alzheimer’s Association, 6055 S Loop E, Houston, Texas 77087