Moore, Mary Kelley

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On Tuesday, December 23, 2014, in the midst of this joyous season of our dear Savior’s birth, we lost our beloved, beautiful mother, Mary Julia Kelley Moore, 92, of Blacksburg, VA.

Mrs. Moore looked forward to celebrating her first Christmas in heaven with her late husband Dr. Joseph Herbert Moore, professor emeritus of Civil Engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, who passed away December 13, 2001.

Mrs. Moore died at her Showalter Center assisted living apartment, Warm Hearth Village, under the care of the faithful and loving staff of Showalter Center and Carilion Hospice. We are most grateful to these wonderful, competent, professionals for their excellent care of our mother as she declined rapidly these past few weeks due to severe aortic stenosis.

Mrs. Moore was born in Lee County, SC, on July 23, 1922, to Roland and Elizabeth Kelley. She enjoyed celebrating her 92nd birthday with table mates at Showalter and with her two daughters at The Hotel Roanoke’s Regency Room.

In 1972 she and her husband moved to Blacksburg, VA, from State College (Penn State Univ.), PA, when her husband joined the faculty at Tech. She was a faithful member of Blacksburg Baptist Church for 42 years and was never without The Upper Room, her daily devotional, her entire adult life. A loyal volunteer of Interfaith Food Pantry and the gift shop at Montgomery Regional Hospital for many years, Mrs. Moore was an active member of the Virginia Tech Faculty Woman’s Club and known as “Mary Lady Sunshine” in the Purple Passions Red Hat Society, now the No Name Dames.

Having met as teenagers at a high school basketball game, Mrs. Moore and her husband married in the Summerall Chapel at The Citadel, Charleston, SC, on May 29, 1943, the day of his graduation. Their life together included living in nine states, moving in and out of State College, PA five times, building three homes in two states and raising two ambitious, active daughters, thus cutting short her Penn State academic aspirations.

Mrs. Moore is predeceased by her husband, her parents Roland and Elizabeth Kelley, sister Alma, brother Rutledge, and infant first daughter Mary Ann born prematurely. She is survived by her two adoring and absolutely devoted daughters Mary Janis Moore Miley (Bill) of Columbus, GA, and Jacksonville Beach, FL, and Lynda Jean Moore Harris (Dave) of Clemmons, NC, grandchildren Julia Marie Harris (Tony Edgerton), Winston-Salem, NC, and Dylan Bennett Harris, Chattanooga, TN, and brother Racine Kelley and family, Matthews, NC, and many nieces and nephews. Extended family includes step-granddaughters Leslie Miley Chaplin (Pete), Orangeburg, SC, and Elizabeth Miley Saemisch (Scott), Dacula, GA, step-great-grandchildren Ce-Ce Miley, Atlanta, GA, Alivia Saemisch, Dacula, GA, and Will Dunn, Fort Bliss, TX.

Funeral services will be held at 2:00 PM on Saturday, December 27, 2014, at Blacksburg Baptist Church with the Reverend Todd Millsaps and Dr. Don McKinney officiating. Visitation will take place with the family from 1:00 to 2:00 PM in the church sanctuary. Interment will follow the service at Westview Cemetery in Blacksburg. The family will greet visitors in the church Fellowship Hall immediately after burial.

Flowers are welcomed. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Blacksburg Baptist Church Building Fund, 550 N. Main Street, Blacksburg, VA 24060, or to Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children, 950 West Faris Road, Greenville, SC 29605.

Arrangements are by McCoy Funeral Home, Inc., Blacksburg, VA.