Francis Eugene Moore

Francis Eugene Gene Moore passed away on Saturday, September 3, 2011, surrounded by his children and grandchildren. A longtime resident of Attleboro, Massachusetts, Gene, together with his wife Joanne, was a community leader active in the areas of human rights, veterans affairs, politics and the Catholic Church, all while raising a family of eight children. A storyteller, writer, and avid sailor and fly-fisherman, Gene was well known to many residents of Attleboro, Massachusetts as a columnist for the Attleboro Sun Chronicle. Gene previously worked as a sales engineer for the Foxboro Company and as Senior Deputy Commissioner for Commerce for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He published in Commonweal and the National Catholic Reporter, and his WW II memoir is shelved at the Attleboro Public Library. After retirement, he had a small business specializing in database programming. Moore was a long-time member of the City of Attleboro Council on Human Rights, the Literacy Center Board, the Crosslight Board, and the Writers Board of the Attleboro Public Library. He was also a member of the Attleboro Veterans Writers Workshop and served on the committee that built the war memorials downtown. He volunteered as a computer teacher at the Larson Senior Center and was active in Democratic politics, serving as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention and Massachusetts Democratic Committee. With his wife, Joanne, he started Christian Family Movement groups in Attleboro, and was instrumental in bringing the Cursillo program to the area. Starting in the late 1960s, they opened the doors of their home to people in need, including refugees, unmarried mothers, and the poor. Gene and Joanne were appointed members of the United States Catholic Bishops National Family Life Advisory Board in the 1960s. Gene Moore was born on March 19, 1924, in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. He was the eldest of five children, graduating from Pottsville Catholic High School at the age of 17. He attended the University of Notre Dame in September of 1941, enrolling in the Chemical Engineering Department and the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps. In February 1944, he was commissioned an Ensign at age 19. He spent most of his naval career in the Amphibious Fleet. Serving in various posts aboard a Landing Ship Tank, he carried troops and supplies throughout the South Pacific, including D-Days at Lingayen Gulf and at Okinawa. After his discharge in the summer of 1946, he completed his studies at Notre Dame. In 1948, he joined Esso at their refinery in Linden, New Jersey. In 1951 he married Joanne Maloy, whom he had first met at Saint Marys College. They moved to Massachusetts in 1953, when he transferred to the Esso Refinery in Everett. The family moved to 752 North Main Street in Attleboro in 1957, when Gene started work at the Foxboro Company. He is survived by a brother, Martin Moore, and his wife Joan, of Norristown, PA; his children, Patricia Moore and her husband, Wayne Sheridan, of Marblehead, Mary C. Moore and her husband, Dave Potter, of Providence, Michael F. Moore of New York, N.Y., Thomas J. Moore and his wife, Vicki Wimberly, of Evergreen, Colo., Helen Moore von Oehsen and her husband, Bill, of Washington, D.C., Francis E. Moore III of Newburyport, Therese J. Moore and her husband, Paul Dye, of Greenwich, Conn. and Sean D. Moore and his wife, Jessica, of Newburyport. Genes thirteen grandchildren include: Rebecca, Pam and Matthew Sheridan, Zachary and Sarah Kahn, Martha and Joseph Nowlan, Sam, Madeleine and Anne Moore, Rachel and Emily Dye, and James Moore. Gene was preceded in death by his wife, Joanne. Funeral arrangements are entrusted to the Dyer-Lake Funeral Home the national historic Colonel Obed Robinson Home, 161 Commonwealth Avenue, Village of Attleboro Falls, North Attleboro, where the family will receive friends for visitation with Veterans Honors on Thursday, September 8, 2011 from 6:00 8:00 PM. Time will be taken for sharing of memories and reflections starting at 7:30 PM. A children's room will be available during visitation. Local transportation, gratis, can be arranged directly with the funeral home by calling 508-695-0200. Family and friends are cordially invited to a concelebrated Mass of Christian Burial on Friday, September 9, 2011 at 9:00 AM at St. John the Evangelist Church, 133 North Main Street Route 152, Attleboro, with the Rev. Richard Roy, Pastor and the Rev. John Doyle, co-officiating. Graveside services with military honors will immediately follow at North Purchase Cemetery, 825 North Main St., Attleboro. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations in Francis E. Moore and Joanne C. Moore's memory may be made to the Massachusetts Alzheimer's Association, 311 Arsenault St., Watertown, MA 02472. For additional information or to send the family a written expression of sympathy, please visit www.dyer-lakefuneralhome.com . Arrangements are under the direction of the Dyer-Lake Funeral Home, 161 Commonwealth Avenue, Village of Attleboro Falls, North Attleboro. (508) 695-0200.