Events That Change Your Direction In Life

I often marvel at the events that came into my life to get me where I am today. So many things had to fall in place in order for me to have the life that I now enjoy.

I was born in Piqua, Ohio in 1934 to Leonard and Evelyn Moore. I was their second child as Ben was born in 1932. I don’t have any recollection of living with my parents. Nothing seems to have stuck in my memory of those years. Some people can remember when they were two years old and I can’t remember anything prior to six years of age. During that time we had Faye join our family in 1937, Bob in 1939 and Lenna in 1940.

Two months prior to Lenna’s birth, our dad passed away from an infection that is curable today but was not in 1940. The next two years are a blur as well. Our mother moved us a couple of times as I do remember living in a farm house but we didn’t farm the land. Just rented the home. Another house was a portable temporary housing that was available during World War Two. I believe this was in Troy, Ohio which is about 10 miles from Piqua. Our dad worked at Hobart Manufacturing in Troy. It was at this home that we were picked up by the authorities and was headed for Foster Care had our grandparents not intervened. Grandpa didn’t want any of his grandchildren in Foster Care. So he went before the judge and requested permission to place the five kids into homes of his family. Our grandparents had 12 children. One died at 6 weeks and my father died at age 31. So 10 were left to help.

Faye went to live with our Aunt Ruth Reynolds in Elkhart, Indiana and was raised as one of Ruth’s children. Robert Lee (Bob) was first sent to our Uncle Bob Moore’s home in Covington, Ohio and later to Aunt Doris Wright’s home in Los Angeles where he stayed for a short time. This didn’t work out in Bob’s life and he opted to move in with our mother in Muncie, Indiana. I don’t recall when he did this but he was living there in the summer of 1952 when I visited him and took him on a trip to Celina and Elkhart to visit our siblings and relatives.

Lenna was a baby under two years of age when she went to live with Aunt Betty Ummel near Elkhart. Lenna and Faye grew up near each other and were able to be together often. Lenna really didn’t know her father and mother. She had little contact with her mother.

Ben and I went to live with our grandparents, our dad’s mother and father. Our grandfather was the pastor of the Nazarene church in Coshocton, Ohio at this time. Shortly after that, he was asked to be the pastor of the Church of the Nazarene in Celina, Ohio. Ben was 10 years old and I was 8 when we began our lives with our grandparents.

In 1949 after completing his junior year in high school, Ben left the home to live with our mother in Muncie, Indiana. That left me alone for the first time at age 15.

Our grandmother’s health was failing in 1949 and as had been the practice of the Moore children, they came to see their parents as often as they could. One of those visits in late August was from Ray and Edith Moore with their 18 month old daughter, Kathy. They spent a few days with us and then left for home in Kansas City, Missouri. A few days later I received a letter from Ray which I still have in my Memory Box. He asked me to consider moving to Kansas City, Missouri to live with them since grandmother was having difficulty in caring for me. I showed the letter to Grandpa and he said the decision would be entirely mine. I was welcome to stay there with them if I chose or take Ray and Edith up on their offer. My choice.

The decision had to be made very quickly as September was right around the corner and I was headed back to school for my 10th grade. I would be leaving everything that I knew and friends that have been pals for several years. I also had my job at the Daily Standard delivering papers for the last six years and my janitorial duties at the newspaper to consider. I would be starting over at a new place, new family, new church, new school and hopefully new friends. I had a Whizzer Motor Bike and a Powell Motor Scooter to think about. I sold the Whizzer to a fellow newspaper friend and shipped the Powell to Kansas City.

The decision to move from Celina to Kansas City was not an easy one. But it was the right one. Grandmother passed away in 1950. I met a girl of 14 years of age just one and a half blocks from my new home who I married six years later. This July 22nd will be our 54th wedding anniversary. Ann Edwards went to the same high school and church and later to the same college in California.

This story is a great example of what Romans 8:28 says -- “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose”.

Have You Ever Re-read An Old Letter You Wrote?

Ray & Edith Moore - my "parents" in Kansas City, Missouri


Our home in Kansas City, Missouri on 67th Street

My last three years of high school were spent living in Kansas City, Missouri with Uncle Ray and Aunt Edith Moore. After graduation in 1952, I moved to California to attend Pasadena Nazarene College.

My High School graduation picture - 1952

Communication between us was through letters to each other. Postage was 3 cents and we wrote each other on occasion. My Aunt Edith passed away some 15 years ago and Uncle Ray died a couple of years ago. His second wife, Nelda, was recently going through some of Ray’s possessions and found seven letters that I had written them that he kept. The dates of the letters were January 11, 1954, February 18, 1954, October 7, 1954 ( all written in my Sophomore and Junior years of college.)

The next one was written April 13, 1959 three days before my 25th birthday and three days after our son, Ricky’s, 3rd birthday. Ann was very pregnant with Brenda who was born 11 days later on April 24, 1959. [This year she turned 50.]

I wrote a letter on October 4, 1959 that Ray kept. Ricky was 3 ½ years old and Brenda was soon to be 6 months old. Ann was enrolled in what became California State University at Fullerton taking night classes.

The sixth letter was written March 23, 1962. The next month Ricky will be 6 years old and Brenda was coming up on her 3rd birthday. I had written about the passage of time -- 10 years ago I graduated from High School, 6 years ago from Pasadena Nazarene College, and I came to live with them 13 years ago. Time was flying.

The last one I received from Nelda I want to comment on some items. I will publish most the letter and add comments to some of the items. This was written June 19, 1965 when we were living in our first home that we bought on Marty Lane in Santa Ana. That is almost 44 years ago. Comments will be in brackets [ ]. This was to Ray only as it was in a “Father’s Day” card.
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Dear Ray,
This card is coming to you a little late. I bought the card early enough but wanted to write a letter to you at the same time the card came. Consequently, the card is late waiting for this letter.

I wish to say “Happy Father’s Day”, as you have been one of my fathers throughout my life and I am very glad that you were. I don’t consider myself as a kid that had bad breaks in his life. On the contrary. I feel that I had many good breaks and feel very fortunate to have been born into a family of Moore’s that are interested in helping each other out when things don’t go according to plan. [I was one of 5 children born to Ray’s brother, Leonard. Our dad died suddenly in 1940 and the family floundered for a couple of years before being split up by court order. Instead of Foster Care, we were moved to homes of our dad’s family. My brother, Ben, and I went to live with our grandparents. The other three kids went to uncles or aunts in the Moore family.] [I moved to Kansas City in September 1949.]

I am very proud of you and the family that I was associated with during my teen years. You were understanding when it was needed and also stern when it was needed. Thank you.

Dad [Ann’s dad Robert Edwards] is visiting us now and has been for a few days. He returns to Kansas City next Thursday. That is, he leaves then on the train. It sure is nice to have him here. He attended Ann’s graduation from college. She finally did it! And she did it “With Honors”. We are proud of her and her hard work that she has had to put in in order to attain this. One item of note -- Cecil Miller [who Ray knew] is registrar at the college that Ann graduated from -- California State College at Fullerton. He was in that capacity at Pasadena [Nazarene College] when I graduated 9 years ago. [Cecil signed both of our diplomas.] We got to talk with him on graduation day. I guess he was a victim of the last purge at Pasadena. He has a very good position with this college as Ann was only one of 502 that graduated. Incidentally, she was one of 18 who graduated “With Honors”. How about that?

I hear by the grapevine that you will be leaving Kansas City and have accepted a position at Olivet [Nazarene College - Kankakee, Illinois]. The way things were going in KC I imagine this is a great load off your mind and a better chance to do what you are really interested in. I also hear that you may set up a radio station at the college. When things are such that you can write about it, please let me know. I hate to see you leave KC as it is very nice to stop in one place and see all relatives on both sides. You seem to be a permanent fixture there. I know the kids and particularly Kathy are probably upset and it has been her only hometown. This will be a new experience for them [Kathy, Philip, & Harlan] and I know they will adjust. I’ve had quite a few hometowns now and find it just as easy to live in one town as another. Perhaps on those rare occasions that I may have to visit our home office, I can drop in on you at Olivet. It’s not far from Chicago and we have to go via Chicago. [State Farm Insurance home office is located in Bloomington, Illinois.]

Since you are moving and I have some items at your house yet, would you please box them and give these to the Edwards for me. I haven’t driven back that way yet and haven’t had a chance to pick them up. I believe I have my stamp collection, and memory box [still have these in the garage] plus anything else that you may find that was mine. I’m not interested in the ice skates if you still have these. Let your kids have them. It would be interesting to know just what I do have there. Even after 13 years in California I guess I’m not settled down. I expected to come back there after college but that didn’t work out. Things here are looking good for both of us work wise and unless there is something drastic, we will be here for some time to come.

We’ve been considering buying a different home and getting settled but the prices of homes now is terrible. I paid $13,250.00 for my 4 bedroom home. I can get about $16,500 for it now. But then buying a different one would run $25,000 to $30,000 and that is too much at this time. My mortgage is under $12,000 and by investing a little I could fix up my house to make it quite livable. We don’t know exactly what to do. [Can you relate to any of this? We ended up buying a new home in Westminster that cost $28,000 and I thought I‘d lost my mind!]

Ann just finished teaching the first semester of her career. She is teaching 1st grade and loves it. [She spent 30 years in 1st grade with 25 years in the same room.] She has a ten month contract for next year at $590 a month. [WOW!] Not bad for a teacher. Of course California is probably the highest paying for teachers. This next year should be easier for us financially. We will celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary next month [In July 2009 it will be 54 years] and all ten years have been pretty rough. Things are looking better.

Ricky has been promoted to the 4th grade now and Brenda will start 1st grade next fall. These kids are growing up too fast. More and more people are noticing how gray I’m getting too. I guess that is part of life.

Love to all,
(signed) Dick

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I mentioned in the letter that time was going by so fast. That was 44 years ago! I have no idea where it went but I can remember so many things that took place in all those years in between that letter and today. I guess this is what “getting old” is all about. I thought you’d enjoy making comparisons to today from things in this letter. Perhaps some of you can relate to this as well.

Small College Advantages - Part C 1954-1955

PERSONAL NOTE -- THIS IS MY 100TH POSTING ON THIS BLOG THAT STARTED FEBRUARY 2008! I didn't know I had this much to say! On to number 200.

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This is a series of five postings. If you haven’t read the previous three stories, please do so now before reading this current posting.

C. Junior Year 1954-1955

Ann spent the summer traveling with an Endowment Ladies Quartet for the college which paid her first semester of school expenses for the following year. But the trip was long and tiring. Besides singing in churches they were counselors in church camps. No trip home but her folks did come down for a weekend in New Mexico to give her a break. I drove up to Salinas for a surprise visit. The pastor’s wife was the sister of my Aunt Edith where I spent the last three years of my high school. So I arranged to stay there with them and gave Ann another break from her routine.

My summer was spent working at the Nazarene Book Store and writing letters! Wrote to her every day and she wrote to me every day. Yes, some of those letters still exist but will have to be destroyed before my kids get to them! There is a story about her receiving these letters which will be in another posting some day.

This is my junior year. Two down and two to go. Checking my yearbook, there is only one picture of Ann and I besides our class pictures. We were part of a picture story done about one of our friends about writing a term paper. There were twelve pictures going about his day finishing with the paper done. We were in one of those pictures with Gene Rice. Ann was pictured with a ladies trio for the college endowment. I didn’t get many signatures or comments written in this book but two that stand out are Dave Cole and Marlene Webb. They were getting married in 16 days, just one month before Ann and I were. As stated in a previous post, Marlene and Ann were born the same day but didn’t know each other until they came to college and sang in the Endowment Groups. You can read about that story here. Dave also sang in a quartet for the college.

This year the people owning the house that we rented a room in asked us to move out of the room. But instead they gave us the entire upstairs apartment for the same price! We had a bedroom, living room, partial kitchen (no sink), and a bathroom all to ourselves and furnished. The bedroom and kitchen were partitioned off with a free standing book case cabinet full of dishes. When Dave was to leave for a two week choir tour, he set two clocks so he wouldn’t oversleep. The one in the living room went off and so did Dave -- right into the cabinet knocking it over with a loud crash. Remember this is early in the morning. Then he was gone for two weeks. The people thought we had fought and he left. We straightened them out.

Since this was my junior year, the school had a Junior Ditch Day when all the juniors skipped classes that day and this year the trip was to Catalina Island and the city of Avalon. One catch -- the juniors always captured the Senior Class President and took him and his girlfriend along. My roommate, Dave Benson, was the Senior Class President. So naturally the job was mine and we got it done without any problems. His girlfriend, Ginny Curl (later his wife), also went and we all had a great time skipping our classes that day. That was the first time Ann and I had been to Catalina Island which became later in our lives our R & R destination.

Dave Benson, Virginia Curl, and Ann Edwards waiting for the boat. See my 1947 Plymouth behind them.

Taken on Junior Ditch Day in Avalon Catalina Island. Count the ribs! I weighed 120-125 pounds at this time.

In December 1954 during the Christmas Break, I had a life altering experience when I decided to live my life for Jesus Christ and turn my life over to Him for guidance. No bells went off - whistles didn’t blow -- I didn’t hear anyone speaking in a “God like voice”. Just a decision that actually changed me from living for myself to living for Him. I had been in a Christian atmosphere most of my life having lived with my grandparents who were ministers and an uncle who was very involved in music ministry. But living around Christianity is much different than living as a Christian. This was a decision that I have never regretted.

In February of 1955, I asked Ann for her hand in marriage. So that you don’t have to wait much longer, she said yes. Then I asked her father, Robert Edwards, for permission to marry his youngest daughter and he didn’t hesitate in saying yes to my request. Our wedding date was set for July 22, 1955. This was during the summer between my junior and senior year at Pasadena Nazarene College.

Ann left school for Kansas City, Missouri, and to prepare for the wedding. I stayed in Pasadena in our rented duplex and continued my work at the book store.

Small College Advantage - Part A 1952-1953

If you haven’t read the previous posting that started this series off, please do so now before reading this new posting.

A. Freshman Year 1952-1953

I had my brother Ben’s car (1939 Pontiac) for my first year on campus. He was in the Navy overseas. I drove it from Kansas City, Missouri by myself when I was 18. As related in a previous story (click here), I had to keep the speed under 55 miles per hour and covered all 1,700 miles at that top speed. Gives you a chance to see some scenery as you go along.

I stayed a few days with my Aunt Doris and Uncle Orval Wright in Los Angeles before leaving for college. The only freeway in Southern California at that time was the currently named Pasadena Freeway. It was about 10 miles long ending in Pasadena. I pulled up to the campus and was met by a student named Ramon Cortines who was called “Peanuts”. Ramon disappeared for two years and returned my senior year because of time with the U.S. Army. Ramon is still in demand today as Interim Superintendent of Schools in Los Angeles. I see him occasionally on TV news. He had quite a career in education before retiring and has been called back into service a couple of times in LA to be Interim Superintendent.

Students were assigned the task to help freshmen get settled in campus life when they arrived. So Ramon helped me move the personal items from the car into my assigned dorm room. He noticed that I had a small TV and told me that it was not allowed on campus. Pasadena Nazarene College (PNC) had a rule that no TVs would be allowed. I didn’t know that when I left Missouri. So I put it in the closet and watched it there when time was available. A related story about this is found on the BLOG here under the title of “Forbidden Entertainment”.

My roommate was Dave Benson who was from Kansas City and a friend for the past three years. Dave and I attended the same high school and church. He asked me to be his roommate for his second year at the college. We ended up spending three years together.

I needed a job to pay for college expenses and applied at the local Sears store. I worked for Sears Mail Order in Kansas City which helped me get the job. My duties were to price and stock items. I wasn’t there long and got a job close to the college at the Headliner Coffee Shop as dish washer/busboy. My hours were 5 p.m to 1 a.m. Monday through Thursday and 12 noon to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. The college had a curfew and bed check but I was exempted because of my hours. They didn’t know when I worked so they didn’t check on me at all. I spent two years working for the Headliner. Paid all my expenses including college costs. Couldn’t do that today.

I bought a breakfast pass from the college and had breakfast with about 8 people every day. You get to know them that way. Two of them (Sharon Lamkin and Sheila Lawlor) ended up spending their careers with the college retiring recently from Point Loma Nazarene University. PNC moved to San Diego in 1973. Both of these ladies married students from my graduating class year - Ross Irwin and Keith Holly.

Looking through the 1953 La Sierra yearbook is an interesting adventure. You see many people that signed your book that you have forgotten. Also many that have been life long friends. On page 121 you will find a full page picture of me driving a 1913 Model T Ford for a school rally. That story is also in a previous post on this BLOG here.

This was the year of “The Fire House Five” basketball team that were state champs in N.A.I.A. small college basketball. They played in Kansas City representing California. John Davis, Ralph Leech, Ted Cummins, Doyle Cozzens, and Bob Hopkins were coached by Ken Keoppel who happened to be the Business professor that taught many classes of mine.

Two of our next door neighbors were Clyde Rose and Ken Robinette. When I went down to change my driver’s license from Missouri to California, the observer wouldn’t get into the Pontiac because it had a cracked windshield. So I borrowed Clyde’s 1946 Ford to take the driving test. Ken and I did a lot of things together over the weekends including driving up to Mount Wilson, attending car races in Compton, etc. Guy things.

A requirement at this church college is to attend chapel services. We had assigned seats and attendance was taken. This is another place that you get to know people around you. This provided many laughs and close friendships.

Classes were small and you got to know the other students. The teacher got to know you. This is a big advantage over the larger universities where you become a number. In order to place you in some classes, tests were given at the beginning of the year. I must have aced the English exam as they put me in the top class that only wrote themes. This was taught by a man who attended Olivet Nazarene College and sang in a quartet with two of my uncles. So naturally I thought I would ace this class too. NOT! He worked our tails off writing and re-writing themes. I can recall working hours and hours on stories and getting a very low grade on them. I can also recall writing a story on the day it was due and getting an “A” on it. I guess he was preparing me to write this BLOG.

Christmas vacation was only two weeks long and several of us from the Midwest wanted to go home. So five of us and luggage got into the 1939 Pontiac and drove straight through changing drivers. The road in Kansas was slick with ice and snow and we went into the ditch. Almost immediately a farmer came along with his tractor and hooked up a chain pulling us out of the ditch. Nothing said and he didn’t charge anything. We were on our way again. About 7 miles from home the transmission gave out. During the time home, it was repaired for $125 and we made our way back to the college in time for classes. Toward the end of the school year, my brother came back from overseas duty for his car.

The summer between my Freshman and Sophomore years I returned home to Kansas City (Dave’s dad drove us in his new 1953 Dodge) and worked at the Sears Mail Order warehouse. That was the last time I spent the summer in Kansas City.

Small College Advantages

First of all, let me tell you that I am not a student -- wasn’t interested in school and unfortunately only did what I needed to do to get through. Southeast High School in Kansas City, Missouri wasn’t very interesting to me. I had moved there in 1949 leaving my small town of Celina, Ohio behind. I wasn’t involved in any activities or sports. Most of the time I had a job and that fulfilled my life. So I wasn’t known on campus by many kids.

To add to that, I wasn’t interested in going to college either. However, Uncle Sam was involved in a conflict in Korea and was drafting guys when they turned 18 years of age. That definitely didn’t interest me. The government would exempt anyone who went to college and maintained a “C” average. I can do that! So I applied to a church related school called Pasadena Nazarene College located in Pasadena, California. I thought going that far away from “home” would make me work harder on my studies. I applied for the draft exemption and left for college in late summer of 1952.

Pasadena Nazarene College probably had 1,200 students in the entire college. We had 200 pictured in our Freshman Class of 1952-1953. Living on campus in the East Dorm helped me get acquainted with guys living there and attending some of the same classes I did. Colleges this size are still available but most of you who attended college did so with a large State University ranging from 8,000 to 20,000 students. Hard to get acquainted with other students and especially with the faculty.

I am going to relate my experiences through the four years in four additional postings writing about what happened in each of the years of college to my graduation in 1956. Of course, this is for my family and college friends. But you can come along on the journey if you like. Might bring back some memories of your college days.

I Married My College Roommate's Fiance

I know what you are thinking -- you dog you! But it isn’t quite the way you may have thought.

Dave Benson, Ann Edwards, and myself were a part of the teen group in Kansas City, Missouri that attended First Church of the Nazarene. All three of us happened to attend Southeast High School also. As I stated before, I wasn’t into girls at that time and only dated two during my three years in Kansas City which didn't include Ann. She told her mother on the day we met that “he is the man I’m going to marry”! She was 14 years old and I was 15 at the time.

Since I wasn’t interested in girls during high school, Ann had to go another direction. She and Dave started dating and were boyfriend/girlfriend before Dave left for Pasadena Nazarene College in Pasadena, California in 1951. At this time Ann was a junior in high school. Most of the kids from our church attended Bethany Peniel Nazarene College (now Southern Nazarene University) in Bethany, Oklahoma as this college served our district in the Nazarene denomination.

I graduated in 1952 and decided to go to Pasadena Nazarene College. Dave asked me to be his roommate. He and Ann became engaged and off to college the guys went leaving Ann to her senior year of high school. My first year of college I had my brother’s 1939 Pontiac to use as he was overseas in the Navy. I had one date to a party held at a local church. That was it on dating for me.

David Benson - my roommate for three years in college

Dave had two pictures of Ann and we each had a dresser to put them on. So I got used to seeing her picture daily! At the end of the school year 1953, Dave and Ann broke their engagement. This was awkward for Ann as she had applied and been accepted at Pasadena Nazarene College. She decided to attend there anyway instead of the school in Bethany, Oklahoma.

Dave and I rented a room a block off campus my second year. Ann was living in the girls dorm on campus. That year Dave had a car and I didn’t. So I got to borrow his car when needed. Not to date - but just errands that I needed to do. Dave and I were roommates for three years.

Since Ann and I were friends from the same city, high school, neighborhood (she lived one and a half blocks from me) and church, I told her that if she didn’t have a date on Friday nights, maybe we would do something as friends. Funny, how she didn’t have many dates on Friday nights. So we would do things together over the weekend like miniature golf, visiting sights around Southern California, going up to the mountains for a couple of hours, etc. I bought a 1947 Plymouth before my junior year so we had wheels when we needed to go somewhere.

Dick Moore & Ann Edwards on a mountain trip on a Sunday 1954

Dick Moore, Ann Edwards, and college friend, Dave Cole - Mt .Baldy 1954

As you can imagine, this blossomed into going steady and then engagement for our wedding between my junior and senior year of college.

My favorite picture of Ann - going steady 2-21-54

No - I didn’t steal my college roommate’s fiancé. He had moved on leaving me to step in to find my life’s companion. 53 years and counting now! Thanks, Dave!

Thanksgiving Thoughts For 2008

As we approach the Thanksgiving Season for this year of 2008, I want to leave some thoughts of thanks that I have been given.

I am very thankful to have been born into the Moore Family. Yes, I had a rough beginning as my father died when I was six years old. I don’t remember my life up to that point but I would imagine it was pretty good. Two years later my siblings were split up to several of the brothers and sisters of our father’s and I and my older brother, Ben, went to live with our grandparents.

Rev. Jesse I. and Mattie Moore had 12 children in 20 years time and now have taken on grandchildren of ages 10 and 8. You’d think they had done enough. Grandpa petitioned the court to allow him to place the five children into homes within his family instead of the foster homes we were headed for if he hadn’t intervened . He didn’t want any of his grandchildren to go to foster care and was willing to take on two of the five to raise as his own. He was a pastor of the Church of the Nazarene in Celina, Ohio and was nearing retirement. Think about his situation and see if you would be willing to do the same thing!

I am very thankful for my Uncle Ray and Aunt Edith Moore who lived in Kansas City, Missouri. They came to visit Ray’s folks one week in August 1949 and when they returned home they wrote a letter asking me to come and live with them for my last three years of high school.
Grandpa said it was my decision. Grandma was ill and he told me that if I decided to stay, that would be OK with him. I decided to go Kansas City to finish my high school years. Because of that, I met my future wife, Ann. I often wondered what my life would have turned out to be if I had stayed in Ohio.

The Korean Conflict was going on when I graduated from high school making me very ripe for the draft into the army. If I would attend college, they would defer my draft until I graduated as long as I maintained a “C” average. Thankfully, I did. I was not a “student” and wasn’t planning on going to college except for the push from the government.

I am thankful for Pasadena Nazarene College for accepting me and for helping me get a college degree which made a big difference in my working years. I am very thankful for Bob & Mildred Edwards who prepared their daughter Ann for adulthood and who I married after my Junior year. She has added so much to my life that it would take several more stories to tell it correctly.

I graduated in 1956 two months after our son, Rick, was born. As a matter of coincidence, President Ike Eisenhower signed a bill exempting fathers from the draft. So I am very thankful for Rick joining our family and for the president’s timing. I am also very thankful for Brenda coming along three years later completing our family.

I am very thankful for C. F. Braun & Company and the Fluor Company for laying me off during the recessions of 1957 and 1958. That gave me an opportunity to join the State Farm Insurance family and spend 37 years with them retiring in 1996 with a pension.

Then we added in-laws -- Anne Jennings married Rick and they have Emily and Eric which gave us our first two grandchildren. Brenda married Scott Ostrander and they have Hannah and Rachel giving us a total of four grandkids. Aren’t we lucky?

I have lived a different life but a blessed and thankful one. I never considered that my life was any different from the normal. So many things had to happen to put everything in place to bring me to this time. I’m a lucky fortunate man! Somebody up there likes me!

Happy Thanksgiving Season!

I Want You To Meet My Uncle Ray Moore

I lived with my Uncle Ray Moore for my last three years of high school. He passed away January 7, 2007, just before he would have turned 89 in February. Here is the obituary that tells of his life.

Bethany, Oklahoma

Monday, January 08, 2007

Renowned Nazarene educator and minister of music Ray Howard Moore passed away January 7. He was 88.

Moore was born on February 17, 1918, in Bronson, Michigan, to Jessie and Mattie Moore. A 1941 college graduate of Olivet Nazarene College, Moore earned his Master of Arts degree from the University of Missouri at Kansas City in 1956. He was honored with a doctorate in music from Olivet in 1980.

Moore faithfully served as a minister of music and educator in the Church of the Nazarene for more than 60 years. He served churches in Detroit, Kansas City, and Bethany, Oklahoma. He was also a professor at Olivet Nazarene University, Nazarene Theological Seminary, Southern Nazarene University, and European Nazarene Bible College.

For 20 years Moore was music director of the radio broadcast, “Showers of Blessings” and “La Hora Nazarena,” which were broadcast around the world from Nazarene Headquarters in Kansas City. He also led Ambassador Ministry Teams to Central and South America as well as Europe. He started radio stations in Kankakee, Illinois (WKOC) and Kansas City, and built communication equipment for missionaries around the world. Moore (W5RSL) was an avid ham radio operator, beginning at the age of nine.

Moore’s life of distinguished service was marked by numerous awards and recognitions, including the Heritage Award from Southern Nazarene University, the “O” Award from Olivet Nazarene University, and the Cathedral Choir Heritage Award from Bethany First Church of the Nazarene.

He is preceded in death by his first wife Edith, granddaughter Amanda Moore, stepson Mark Rawlings, and nine brothers and sisters. He is survived by wife Nelda, daughter Kathy (Ron) Johns of Tulsa, son Phil (Donna) Moore of Bethany, son Harlan (Barbi) Moore of Oklahoma City, special nephew Dick (Ann) Moore of Mission Viejo, California, stepson Mike (Micki) Rawlings of Dallas, and stepdaughter-in-law Kelly Rawlings of Wichita. Surviving grandchildren include Lindsay Moore (Ken Marshall), step-grandchildren Ron (Brenda) Johns, Jr., and Michelle, Jessica, Shelby, and Gunnar Rawlings. Surviving siblings are sister Pauline Alexander of Covington, Ohio, and brother Gary (Marge) Moore of Kansas City.

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The mention of "special nephew Dick (Ann) Moore of Mission Viejo, California" is me. This is very special to me as Ray had 33 nieces and nephews and he mentioned me. Of course, it was because I lived in his home for three years and the others didn't. But Ray was special to me too. He was my 3rd dad. My father (his brother, Leonard) passed away in 1940. From 1942-1949 I lived with Ray's mother and dad, Rev. and Mrs. J. I. Moore. In September 1949 I joined Ray's family.

I thought you'd be interested in reading about Ray's life. His sister, Pauline, has since passed away leaving only his brother, Gary Moore, still with us of the 12 kids.

Everything's Up To Date In Kansas City

I was 15 years old when I moved from Celina, Ohio to Kansas City, Missouri. I had lived with my grandparents from 1942 until September 1949 and my grandmother's health was failing. My brother, Ben, left right after his Junior year in high school to live with our mother in Muncie, Indiana. So I was alone for the first time in my life and needed another place to call home.

Uncle Ray and Aunt Edith Moore lived in Kansas City and was visiting Ray's parents which were my grandparents. They had a daughter, Kathy, who was 18 months old at the time. Kathy and I got along great and on the way back home to Kansas City, Edith asked Ray if they should take Dick into their home. Ray wrote me a letter which I still have in my memory box asking me to consider moving to Kansas City and finishing my high school years in their home. Ray was my dad's brother.

Uncle Ray and Aunt Edith - my new parents in Kansas City

I accepted their invitation and before I knew it, I was on a train to Chicago where I met up with another uncle, Dale, who accompanied me to Kansas City. I arrived in my new home just a few days before the school year was to start. My wardrobe was lacking in decent clothes and we went shopping. What I wore in Ohio just didn't work in Missouri!

Their home was a single story, two bedroom, one bath home. Kathy was sleeping in their bedroom and the music room (Ray taught voice) became my bedroom.

My new home on 67th Street in Kansas City, Missouri

It was obvious that something had to be done as Kathy was needing to be moved out of their bedroom and into one of her own. Ray began plans to "raise the roof" and add a second floor to the home. He became the contractor and the hired hand to do the job. He needed help on raising the roof but everything else he (and sometimes me) did the job. In time three bedrooms and a bath were added upstairs. They would need all three bedrooms after I left for college as Philip and Harlan were born to the family. Kathy, Philip, and Harlan had their bedrooms upstairs.

I spent my last three years in high school attending Southeast High School which is pictured below.

Southeast High School - attended there 1949 to 1952

I graduated from there in June 1952 and was off to Pasadena Nazarene College in Pasadena, California in the fall. I returned to Uncle Ray and Aunt Edith's home for the summer of 1953. When I returned to college, I never went back home for anything other than a short visit. I stayed in the "old" home when I went back in July 1955 to be married to Ann.

Early Days Of Television

I was born before television was a household word. We marveled at radio! How could they send the sound from New York City clear across the states to Los Angeles? Now add the picture and you can imagine our amazement.

Television was introduced to the general public at the 1939 World's Fair in New York City on Sunday, April 30, 1939. This is just before World War II started. So it had to take a back burner for development until after the war ended in 1945. The first station was in New York City and basically served a few people in that city. Not many sets were available elsewhere but time brought many manufacturers all over the USA to develop this unique entertainment vehicle.

At the World's Fair, visitors crowded together to watch NBC broadcasts or internal closed circuit demonstrations. Frequently, volunteers were escorted outside to the cameras and encouraged to wave at the folks inside. Television was such a novelty at the time that "I was televised" cards were handed out as a souvenir of the experience.

I lived in Kansas City, Missouri in 1949 when TV came to that city. Of course, the picture was in black and white only at that time. You had certain hours that you could watch anything. Programming went off the air with the National Anthem being played and sometimes a prayer by a local pastor. Then you got the test pattern which was used to adjust new sets. The first station there started just after I arrived in Kansas City. It was WDAF-TV Channel 4 and had it's start on October 16, 1949. Radio stations that started TV stations just added "TV" to their call letters. NBC radio station WDAF was the first to get a license to broadcast TV in that area. As there were few TV stations, they weren't affiliated with just one network but chose programs from all networks. WDAF-TV was affiliated with NBC, CBS, ABC and an independent called DuMont Network. The station later became the FOX Network station for that area. Randell Jessee was the first anchorman for the station and well known in the Kansas City area.

In early 1950 I caught double pneumonia and was bed fast at home while the doctor made daily house calls to save my life. Our teen group at Kansas City First Church of the Nazarene (NTO) rented a 7 inch round tube TV to keep me occupied. The only TV in the home! I later was able to buy the first TV for my aunt and uncle that I lived with there. A store was selling a few sets for a very low price if you got there in time and Uncle Ray did.

There were a few shows like Milton Berle's Texaco Star Theater in 1948. He kind of pioneered the variety comedy show idea. In fact, NBC gave him an unheard of contract in 1951 for 30 years at $100,000 per hear to do 360 shows. When his TV show was cancelled, NBC had the obligation for the balance of his 30 year contract. But Milton Berle couldn't appear on any TV show on any other network during the contract. He was tied to NBC which he tried to get out of but they wouldn't let him. Minor players now get that amount or more per show and he had to settle for a yearly payment. Contrast his earnings with the last year of "Friends" where all six players received One Million Dollars per half hour each for 22 episodes ($22 Million per actor). What sounded great in 1951 became a noose around Uncle Miltie's neck.

When someone got a new television set, they also got a lot of visitors stopping by for a visit. It was so new that people couldn't get enough of television. What in the world did we do with our time before television came available?

Some of new television shows were:

Ed Sullivan's "Toast Of The Town" (variety show)
Your Hit Parade (countdown to the top songs of the week)
Arthur Godfrey (daytime talk show with guests)
Your Show Of Shows (Sid Caesar & Imogene Coco - Variety)
The Honeymooners (Jackie Gleason situation comedy)

There were some radio hits that moved to television:

Red Skelton, Jack Benny, George Burns & Gracie Allen, Fibber McGee & Molly, Bob Hope, Amos & Andy, and The Lone Ranger. These were just a few of them that I could think of quickly.

It was an exciting time in the entertainment industry. Television gave the movies a boost because the movies could be shown again in another medium. Think of all the actors who took a flat fee and didn't get residuals because they didn't know the movies would be shown again.

Do You Want Me To Preach Too?

High School Graduation Picture 1952 Kansas City, MO

I grew up from age 9 to 15 in a small town of Celina, Ohio. My brother, Ben, and I lived with our grandparents and Grandpa was the pastor of the local Church of the Nazarene. In June of 1949, Ben left the home to live with our mother in Indiana. Grandmother's health was failing and in September I moved to Kansas City, Missouri to live with Uncle Ray and Aunt Edith Moore. I graduated from Southeast High School in 1952 and was making plans to attend Pasadena Nazarene College in Pasadena, California.

Rev. J. I. and Mattie Moore, my grandparents

My grandmother had passed away two years earlier. I wanted to visit my retired grandfather and my hometown one more time before leaving for California. I had my brother Ben's 1939 Pontiac (he was overseas in the Navy at this time) and I stopped in Muncie, Indiana to visit my mother and my younger brother Bob. I took Bob with me to Celina and up to Elkhart, Indiana to visit our sisters, Faye and Lenna who were living with other relatives.

Celina Ohio Church of the Nazarene 1948

We were able to spend a couple of days with Grandpa and visiting friends in Celina. On Sunday, we visited my former church and the then pastor who I had not met before asked me to sing a solo for the evening service. I was introduced in church as the grandson of Rev. J. I. Moore. The Moores had a reputation for being singers and he thought I was a singer also. I had never sung at that church and had sung solos only for the teen group at the church in Kansas City. I agreed to do it because there probably wouldn't be more than 50 people there that night. Then he asked me to do a duet with Helen Howell who I was talking to and who used to be my brother Ben's girl friend. OK we said. Then he asked me to lead the singing for the service and I asked him if he wanted me to preach also -- he asked "Could you?" I drew the line on that.

But my last visit to the church included participating in the entire music part of the evening service. Something I will never forget.

Powell P-48 Model Scooter -- 1949/1950

Transportation Item Number 3

At the end of the school year in 1949, my brother Ben decided he would forgo his senior year of high school and move to Muncie, Indiana, to live with our mother. For the first time in my life, I was not living with a member of my immediate family. Ben and I had always been together. Faye, Bob, and Lenna went to other relatives homes and I saw little of them. Sometimes they didn't feel like family as we weren't raised together.

So, here I am alone with my grandparents in Celina, Ohio. One day I met an adult who had a P-48 Powell Motor Scooter for sale. This scooter cost $300 brand new in 1948 (a lot of money then) but he wanted to get rid of it. He offered it for $50. I told Grandpa about it and he said that wasn't possible and that I didn't understand what he wanted for the scooter. He said he wanted to see it and we'd decide if it was worth the amount he wanted. This scooter was perfect. When Grandpa asked him what he wanted for it, the man said $45. SOLD!

Now I had a Whizzer Motor Bike and a P-48 Powell Motor Scooter to get around on. Let me tell you about the Powell. This scooter could really go. I checked the speed with a friend driving a car (no speedometer on the scooter) and got it to 70 miles an hour! It had a 7 horse power motor that was kick started. No key for this one either - a switch to click and you kick start the engine. You could take this scooter if you knew how to ride it. A centrifugal clutch meant no shifting gears. Just give it more gas and away you go. It has a two gallon seat shaped tank (you sat on it with a cushion) and the scooter got 50 miles to a gallon of gas. 100 miles to a tank.

The Powell was made in Compton, California. Here I am in Ohio with a product that was made a few miles from where I now live in California. They are no longer in business. I think they made scooters through 1950 or 1951 and stopped business.

I never took a picture of this scooter. Another regret! So a few years ago I wrote to Reminisce Magazine to a feature they call "Can You Give Me A Hand?" and asked if anyone had a picture of the P-48 Powell. I got seven or eight responses and one even sent me the Parts List of this model which included the picture below. I corresponded with a fellow from Northern California by email for a while. He had a 1950 model which looks more like a small motorcycle. He sent me a picture of it. We exchanged stories of our riding memories and I lost contact with him. If any of you reading this had one of these scooters, let me know in the Comments section at the end of this story.

That summer, Grandma became ill and it was difficult for her to be responsible for a 15 year old as well as her husband. So another home was needed for me. (Grandma passed away the following summer.) In September 1949 I moved to Kansas City, Missouri to live with an uncle and aunt. I had to decide what I was going to do with the two items of transportation that I had. I sold the Whizzer Motor Bike to a fellow Daily Standard newspaper delivery boy named Paul Shiverdecker for $100. He was happy and so was I. I shipped the Powell to my new home and used it around Kansas City. I rode it in the winter and got double pneumonia which nearly took my life at age 15. Another story - another post. I rode the scooter to school and parked it on the street. Again, no one ever took it without my permission. Something that couldn't happen today. During 1950 the scooter broke down and I gave it to Uncle Bob who lived in Indiana. He was very handy with machines. The last thing I heard it was in his garage still not fixed. I don't know what happened to it.

I was very fortunate to have the funds to afford these items for my personal pleasure. Grandpa was supportive and helped me to keep them in working order. I had freedom to get around the town and into the surrounding countryside. It was handy in Kansas City as well. I never had a license plate on either of my toys or registered with the DMV as you now have to do. Of course, at age 15, I didn't have a driver's license either. That is needed today. Too much bureaucracy now! A kid can't be a kid anymore! Oh yeah - no helmet!

53 Years And Counting

Today (July 22) is our anniversary. Our 53rd anniversary! Where has the time gone? How come I can remember so many events and place years to them during these 53 years? I'm too young to be married this long!

But the truth is -- Ann and I were married on July 22, 1955 in Kansas City, Missouri at our home church. Ann was born in Kansas City and started attending Kansas City First Church of the Nazarene when she was able to go to church. Her father, Robert A. Edwards, was the treasurer for over 40 years. Her mother, Mildred Speakes Edwards, was the organist for as long.

I came to Kansas City from Celina, Ohio in September 1949. My Uncle Ray and Aunt Edith invited me to live in their home. I was at my grandparents home from 1942 to 1949 and grandmother was in failing health when I was asked if I would move to Kansas City to live with an uncle and aunt. They had one child -- Kathy -- age 18 months. I accepted their invitation and began a whole new life. Moved from a small town of 5,000 people to a very large city.

A day or two after I arrived, I went with Ray & Edith to the Edwards home which was one and a half blocks from them. Ray had to see Mildred Edwards about some music (Ray Moore was the Minister of Music) and I sat in the living room being uncomfortable as their daughter, Ann, was there. I was 15 years old and Ann was 14. I was not into meeting girls at that age. Not interested at all. But -- Ann had different plans. After the visit she told her mother "that is the man I will marry"! How did she know?

I dated a couple of girls in the next three years but only a couple of times. Again, I was not into that. I went to Pasadena Nazarene College in the fall of 1952 and Ann came there in 1953. We had a "standing" agreement that if she didn't have a date on Friday, we'd do something like miniature golf, go out for a hamburger, go see one of the Radio/TV shows in Hollywood, etc. Funny how she happened to not have any plans on Friday evenings.

We started going steady in February 1954 and engaged a year later. It's been quite a journey and I wouldn't change a thing.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, ANN. Thanks for being my wife and the mother of our kids, Rick and Brenda.
53 years and counting!