John Henry Moore's Obituary
Funeral Services celebrating the life of John Henry Moore, Lieutenant Colonel, United States Army Retired, will be held at 10:00 a.m., Tuesday, December 2, 2014, at the First Baptist Church in Hornbeck, Louisiana. Colonel Moore passed from this life into eternal life with Jesus Christ his Savior on Wednesday, November 26, 2014. Graveside services with military honors will be held at Prewitt’s Chapel Cemetery following the service. The family will receive friends from 5:00 until 8:00 p.m., Monday, December 1, 2014 at Labby Memorial Funeral Home in Leesville, Louisiana.
Colonel Moore was born in Quinlan, Texas, on June 8, 1922, the second of ten children born to Sterling Lonzo and Della Mae Hamilton Moore. A child of the Great Depression, a patriot, and a member of the Greatest Generation he graduated from Patti Welder High School and Victoria Junior College in Victoria, Texas. While John was in high school he worked at a dairy, getting up at 3:00 a.m. each morning to milk 27 cows, by hand, then attend classes and return in the afternoon to milk again. After graduation from high school John attended Coyne Electrical School in Chicago, Illinois where he said he once had the opportunity to attend a lecture by the noted physicist Albert Einstein.
World War II interrupted John’s studies, first enlisting in the U.S. Army’s Signal Corps, but proudly serving most of his military career as an Infantry officer, culminating in training combat infantry soldiers for Viet Nam at Fort Polk’s Tiger Land. Colonel Moore served in the American Campaign, the Pacific Campaign, the Army of Occupation of both Japan and Germany and the Defense of Korea. During peacetime John was stationed in Japan, Germany, and Iceland, and military installations in Texas, Georgia, Arkansas and Louisiana. Colonel Moore retired at Fort Polk, Louisiana in 1967 and made his home in Hornbeck until his death.
After Colonel Moore retired from the Army, he completed his college education earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics from Northwestern State University. He taught mathematics at Hornbeck High School for 20 years and continued teaching and tutoring math students in his home and at the Vernon Parish Optional School in Leesville for many years. Colonel Moore was a member of the Leesville Church of Christ until he could no longer drive, and then the First Baptist Church of Hornbeck. He was once recognized as the Vernon Parish Senior Citizen of the Year.
On December 2, 1944, the 22-year-old soldier married the18 year old Louisiana girl who stole his heart and was the love of his life and his best friend for the next 70 years, Mary Yvonne Brown. Together they traveled the world with their two children and an occasional dog.
Preceding Colonel Moore in death were his parents Sterling Lonzo and Della Mae Hamilton Moore, his older brother Cecil Sterling Moore, his daughter-in-law Kayla Abbott Moore and his son-in-law Dr. David Rougeau. He is survived by his wife Mary Yvonne Moore, his daughter Wanda M. Rougeau of Mansfield, La., his son Robert J. Moore and daughter-in-law Jody LeBlanc Moore of Hornbeck and three granddaughters, Stacy Moore of Hornbeck, Kelly Moore of New Llano and Mary Beth Moore of Shreveport. John’s surviving siblings include Stella Morris of Victoria, TX, Glenna Felz of Monticello, IN, Furst Moore of Hallsville, TX, Forrest Moore of Centennial, CO, Roy Moore of Montreal, MO, Doris MacDaniel of Bridgewater, VA, Irene LaGarde of Mesquite, TX, and William Max Moore of Fredericksburg, VA.
Colonel Moore never met a stranger. He would talk to anybody, trusted everybody, and would drink coffee and shoot the breeze at the drop of a hat with anybody that was willing. If it is true that to teach is to touch a life forever, this amazing man, during his time in the Army and in education, touched many lives and made them a little better in his 92 years on earth. He is gone from our sight, but not from our hearts.
In lieu of flowers the family requests that memorials be made to the Hornbeck First Baptist Church Mission Fund, 2342 Stillwell Avenue, Hornbeck, LA 71439
What’s your fondest memory of John?
What’s a lesson you learned from John?
Share a story where John's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with John you’ll never forget.
How did John make you smile?