Donald Leroy Moore was born on April 26, 1926 in Seattle, Washington. He was the younger of two sons born to Leroy and Florence Moore. Rev. Don as he was fondly known was loved and cherished by many.
He attended High School at Broadway High School in Seattle, WA. He joined the Navy in 1944 and served on the USS LaSalle in the South Pacific during World War 2. After getting out of the military he married Dolores Wolfe and later they moved to California. Don did many different things in his life. He worked for the California Division of Forestry, owned a TV repair shop in the 1950’s, he worked as an Electric Engineer for Sprague Electric, and he was a piano tuner. Most recently he was an ordained minister for the Spiritual Awareness Center. He founded their Porterville church and served as staff minister for a couple of years. He also taught classes and did counseling. Don was active in the Boy Scouts with all of his sons. He was awarded the Silver Beaver award for long time service and self sacrifice. Don married Jean McKenzie in 1995. She was by his side wherever he went. They lived in Springville and then moved to Visalia where they lived with her daughter until November of 2008. Jean preceded him in death by only two weeks.
In his 83 years Don fathered 5 sons and 1 Daughter, Walt (Linda) Moore of Visalia, Dan (Valeri) Moore of Savannah, GA, David Moore of Monterey, Margaret (Jim) Charles of Visalia, Jim (Lindsay) Moore of Visalia, Jeff (Linda) Moore of Discovery Bay. He has 8 grandsons and 4 granddaughters, 5 great-grandsons and 2 great-granddaughters. He leaves a legacy matched by none and will be deeply missed.
A celebration of Don’s life will be held on December 19, 2009 at the Spiritual Awareness Center at 117 S. Locust in Visalia at 3pm. Please bring a story or memory to share. Don wanted this to be a party, so please come prepared to laugh.
