The cycle of life is both beautiful and sad. Our parents beautifully gave us life and then we give life to others. Sadly, our lives eventually fade away. Some of us go far too soon, but we all live a rich life no matter how long we live.
The stories below are of the parents, sons, and daughters who are sadly no longer with us. However, the richness of their lives continues on with these stories.
William Alvin Moore, Sr. (1903 – 1940)
Eloise Elizabeth Love Moore McCorkle (1905 – 1989)
Margaretta May Sanders Coffey (1908 – 1965)
John Askew Coffey (1905 – 1997)
Glenna Keith Coffey Moore (1936 – 2007)
Melana Love Moore Eaves (1963 – 2011)
William Alvin Moore, Sr.
A Splendid Citizen Passes
(published on Nov. 12, 1940, Jackson Daily News)
Jackson lost a citizen of sterling worth and the city’s largest utility an official of rare ability in the untimely death of William Alvin Moore, vice president and general sales manager of the Mississippi Power and Light Company.
Born and reared in Atlanta, where he received his training as an electrical engineer at the famous Georgia Tech, Mr. Moore came to Jackson eleven years ago to accept a position with the sales department of the Mississippi Power and Light Company and his outstanding ability won him for a series of promotions until he became the vice president and right-hand man of President Rex I. Brown.
“He was the most adaptable and versatile man I have ever known,” says President Brown. “In reality he performed the work of three men and his position will be hard to fill.”
“Al” Moore as he was popularly known among a host of friends, quickly won for himself a place in the hearts of the people of Jackson. He was intensely civic-minded, endowed with rare personal magnetism and in community and church affairs soon became an efficient leader. His home life was ideal. A few years ago he was united in marriage to Miss Eloise Love, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James S Love, and two sons blessed this union, the eldest five years of age.
Many mourn the passing of “Al” Moore. Measured by the allotted span of a man, his life was brief, but he gave to the world the best he had and his death is a distinct loss to the community.
W. Al Moore, Noted Utility Leader, Dies
(published on Nov. 11, 1940, Jackson Daily News)
William Alvin Moore, 37, vice president and sales manager of the Mississippi Power and Light Company, died at 8:30 Monday morning after an illness of two weeks.
Known to thousands of Mississippians , as “Al” Moore, the young Georgia electrical engineer has a large hand in recent years’ industrial development of Mississippi. He was especially active in working with local committees in many communities in seeking new industries.
Because of his wide knowledge of Mississippi industrial operations, Mr. Moore had been tendered on Saturday appointment as coordinator of industry for Mississippi with the title of lieutenant colonel and intelligence officer in the new state Home Defense setup. One of his last acts was dictation to a letter Saturday night to Adjutant General Thomas J. Grayson, accepting the appointment. Neither Moore nor General Grayson realized his desperate condition. Close friends who were allowed to see Colonel Moore Saturday said he was thrilled over his appointment and a chance to work for the state in the defense program. As longtime member of the Organized Army Reserves, he had kept in close touch with the nation’s defense plans.
He was married a few years ago to Miss Eloise Love, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. S. Love, of Jackson. Mr. Love was for many years state superintendent of banks.
Al Moore was born in Atlanta June 27, 1903, and attended the Boys High School there, before attending Georgia Tech, where he was graduated as honor man of the class of 1924. Because of his college standing, he was selected by the General Electric Company for an advanced curse in engineering sales training and special test work. He stayed with the G-E organization until February 1929, when he came to Mississippi as industrial sales manager of the Mississippi Power and Light company.
Rapidly advancing in the company, Mr. Moore was elected vice president and placed in charge of sales by the company’s board of directors in 1937. In addition to taking an active part in the state’s industrial development, Mr. Moore kept up with engineering trends and was recognized as one of the outstanding electrical engineers and utility sales managers in the entire South.
Mr. Moore was actively interested in American military affairs throughout his life. He had eight years military training in high school and college, and served in the organized reserve corps for ten years.
Active in church work, he was a member of Galloway Memorial Methodist church here. He was a member of Phi Kappa Phi honorary scholastic fraternity.
In addition to his widow, Mrs. Eloise Love Moore, he leaves two sons, William Alvin Moore Jr., aged 5, and Jim Love, aged two; his mother, Birdie V. Moore, of Atlanta, and a sister, Mrs. Claude Grizzard, Atlanta, all at his bedside when the end came; and an uncle Toke Vandigriff, Montgomery and his grandmother, Mrs. M. C. Vandigriff, Atlanta.
Funeral services will be conducted from Galloway Memorial Methodist church Tuesday at 10 a.m. and the body will lie in state at the J. S. Love home, 932 North State street, until the hour of service.
Dr. B. L. Sutherland, pastor of Galloway Memorial Methodist Church, of which Mr. Moore was a member, and Dr. W. A. Hewitt, pastor of the First Baptist church, will conduct funeral services. Internment will follow at Lakewood cemetary.
Junior Remembers Senior
written by Al Moore, Jr., edited slightly by John Moore
I remember very little about my father, William Alvin (Al) Moore, Sr. He died when I was five years old and my brother, Jim, was just two years old. What I do know about him was told to me by my mother, Eloise.
My father was a big man, standing 6’ 1” and weighing 210 pounds. He attended Georgia Institute of Technology and he was active in sports and made very good grades. A college yearbook from 1924 (.pdf) shows his nickname was “Tarzan.”
After earning a degree in Electrical Engineering in 1924, he joined General Electric and was sent to central Florida. While there he contracted malaria, which was treated with quinine by the company doctor. (This doctor believed in using very heavy doses of quinine, which damaged his kidneys but the damage would not show up for years to come.)
After a few years, he joined the Mississippi Power & Light Company and moved to Jackson, MS, where he married Eloise Love. They had two sons, me, William Al Moore, Jr., and my brother, James Love Moore.
In 1940, while on a company trip to New York, my father caught pneumonia. Upon returning home he entered the hospital to have some tests done. He obviously did not feel too bad when visiting the hospital as he chose to walk up the stairs to the third floor rather than wait on the elevator. The hospital doctors found his kidneys were barely functioning and getting worse.
Without functioning kidneys (there was no dialysis then), the doctors knew death was near. A lawyer was brought in so he could execute and sign a will. Mississippi Power and Light Company officers sat around the clock with my mother during the end days.
Less than a week after entering the hospital he passed away on November 11, 1940, at the age of 37. Cause of death was listed as acute nephritis.
Al Moore, Sr. (39), Al Jr. (4), Eloise, and Jim (1.5)
William Alvin Moore, Sr. is the father of Al Moore.
Further Reading:
Eloise Elizabeth Love Moore McCorkle
written by Kirk G. Taylor (in May 1992), edited slightly by John Moore (in April 2012)
Eloise Elizabeth Love Moore McCorkle was born in Hattiesburg, MS where her grandfather was a physician. She graduated from high school in Greenwood, MS in 1923. It was during her freshman year at Mississippi State College for Women that her parents moved to Jackson. Her first teaching position was in Rosedale, since Jackson had a policy at that time that all teachers must have at least one year of experience.
She taught at Power School of two years before she married William Alvin Moore in 1932. Al, a vice-president in charge of sales for Mississippi Power and Light Company, died in 1940, leaving her with two young sons, William Alvin Moore, Jr. and James Love Moore. Since banks paid their employees more than schoolteachers, she worked in the Advertising Department of Deposit Guaranty Bank for several years.
In 1956, she married James (Jim) McCorkle, Jr. editor and publisher of the Hazlehurst Courier. Her new stepson, Jimmy, was only three days older than Al, her oldest son. Both sons were twenty-one at that time. (A priceless photo exists of Al, Sr. and Jim, together with their infant sons. Al, Sr. and Jim were colleagues then at Mississippi Power & Light.)
After Jim’s death, she moved back to Jackson. She was a member of First Presbyterian Church and a sustaining member of the Junior League.
Eloise died on May 21, 1989, at the age of eighty-four.
Eloise Elizabeth Love Moore McCorkle is the mother of Al Moore.
Further Reading:
Margaretta May Sanders Coffey
Obituary published in the Big Spring Herald | Front Page | March 30, 1965 | (.pdf download)
Margaretta Sanders Coffey, 57, wife of John Askew Coffey and for almost three decades a teacher in Big Spring schools, died at 8:15 a.m. today in St. Joseph’s Hospital in Fort Worth where she had been flown last Thursday.
She had been hospitalized here for nine weeks previous to her removal to Fort Worth in an effort to help a lung ailment.
The family and body were en route here today and were expected to arrive in the late afternoon. Nalley-Pickle funeral Home will be in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Coffey leaves her husband, who handles payroll and insurance matters for Cosden Oil & Chemical Company; one son, Dr. Robert Thomas Coffey, Galbeston; a daughter, Mrs. W. A. (Glenna) Moore Jr., Fort Worth; and four grandchildren.
She was born Margaretta Sanders, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. T. M. Sanders, in Bowie, on Jan 30, 1908 and grew up in Fort Worth. After attending Baylor at Belton for two years, she transferred to Baylor University in Waco, and it was at a Sunday school party in April 1928, that she met her husband-to-be. He was a senior and she was a junior, and when he came here in the fall of 1928, she completed her college work, receiving her B.A. degree on May 29, 1929. She and Mr. Coffey were married Aug. 29, 1929 and came immediately to Big Spring to make their home.
At that time he was teaching school — later serving as high school principal — and she entered the teaching profession, too. Except for six years out for her babies, she had continued to teach, and last autumn she had embarked upon her 30th year with the local school system. Illness and failing strength, however, led her to resign. All of her teaching career was on the elementary level, and most of the time was in South Ward and Washington Place schools.
Mrs. Coffey was a member of professional organizations, such as Texas State Teachers Association, NEA and the teaching sorority. She was a tireless worker for the PTA.
She also was active in numerous community affairs, among them the 1905 Hyperion Clun. A volunteer at the Big Spring State Hospital, she put in well over 500 hours of service.
Outside her home, however, nowhere was she more devoted than to her church, the First Baptist. There she had served in almost every capacity possible, and until failing health prevented, she was a teacher of 15-year olds in the senior immediate department.
In 35 years in Big Spring, there was hardly a time that she was not a class teacher or department superintendent. As recently as last summer she organized a group to take special training at the Baptist retreat at Glorieta, New Mexico. In addition, she worked with the Training Union, had been active in the Women’s Missionary Union, and had planned and executed countless dramas, skits, and entertainments for church gatherings.
Remembrance from Joe Pickle
Published in the Big Spring Herald | (.pdf) download
It never entered my mind that the society editor on our college paper would become a long-time friend. As a wide-eyed, green freshman I marveled at how she thrived on the kidding by Fred Hardman, Sam Whitlow, Dick Wall and others, and I sized Margaretta Sanders up as a woman blessed with a keen sense of humor.
LATER I LEARNED she was engaged to John A. Coffey, who had become a teacher in my hometown. The following year they were married, and thus a friendship of a few short months stretched over years. It was accentuated because she and Zelma Chadd Berry became dearest friends of one of my sisters, Jeannette. When the three of them were together, which was quite often, they squeezed every drop of joy it was possible to get from life.
MARGARETTA had an infectious, spontaneous laugh that was the crowning glory to her pixie humor. There’s no telling how many skits, playlets, pantomimes and parodies she wrote for clubs, churches, PTAs and other groups. Oh, some of them were serious, allegorical and touching, but then a lot of them were feathery taps on the funny bone, delightful rapier thrusts at pomposity, or plain laughs at the outlandish and ridiculous.
SHE WAS, however, almost as easily moved to tears as laughter. Sorrows of others became her own, yet she seemed to keep them in perspective. Once she wept over the death of my sister, then sat bolt upright with a twinkle in her eye, deciding that Jeannette was probably having the time of her new life.
She was mindful of others, and the thing that worried her most during her last illness was that she had no way to thank everyone.
THERE WERE, perhaps those who had greater technical skills as a teacher, but none were her equal in creating a good feeling. She made learning a pleasant adventure. Along with their reading, writing and arithmetic, the youngsters got a fresh class lesson in love, and that may be more important than the three R’s.
MARGARETTA was an incurable optimist. Sometimes it was hard to see how she could always keep looking on the bright side of everything and everybody. But she had a feeling that everything would turn out all right, and now that she has closed her eyes in her final earthly sleep, why should we doubt for a minute that this will, too? — Joe Pickle
Margaretta’s Parents and Her Childhood Days
as remembered by Margaretta’s son, Dr. Robert Coffey, edited by John Moore
My grandmother, Emma Patience Dollahite, is the daughter of Elizabeth Hale Dollahite (the determined schoolteacher mentioned in the Long Ago Profiles page).
Emma went to Sam Houston State in Huntsville, earning a four-year certificate and then becoming a Baptist Home missionary to the poor in San Antonio. She met Thomas Sanders, a widower, at a Baptist convention in Ft. Worth and they married.
I know very little about my grandfather, Thomas, except he owned a feed store in Bowie, TX, and had children from a previous marriage. Thomas and Emma had two children, Thomas Milton, Jr. (b. 1903), and Margaretta (b. 1908), my mother.
Thomas died at age 61 (in 1911) from prostate cancer and Emma died at age 51 (in 1919) from a combination of 1918 Flu (the precursor to the H1N1 flu of 2009) and probably, tuberculosis. My mother was twelve when her mother died.
Aunt Pearl, a schoolteacher and my mother’s half-sister, raised Margaretta in Ft. Worth.
My mother graduated from Northside High School, then spent two years at Baylor Belton (now the University of Mary Hardin Baylor) and then two years at Baylor University in Waco where she met my Dad at a Sunday school party.
Margaretta Coffey is the mother of Bob Coffey.
(This story was culled from a letter Bob wrote in March 2012. His letter also shares more information about Samuel Shupe & his family and the Dollahite family. Read the letter [.pdf])
Glenna Remembers the Death of Margaretta
Scrapbook Memories from 1929 – 1945
Margaretta May Sanders Coffey is the mother of Glenna Moore.
John Askew Coffey
written by Glenna Keith Coffey Moore and edited by Glenna’s son, John Moore
After graduating from Baylor University in 1928, John Askew Coffey applied for and was accepted as a math and physics teacher at Big Spring High School in Texas. He arrived as a bachelor in September of that year, having been raised in Sulphur Springs, Texas.
The following summer on August 29, 1929, he married Margaretta Sanders in Fort Worth. They had met and became engaged while both were students at Baylor and Margaretta accompanied John back to his home in Big Spring.
Margaretta became a substitute teacher in the Big Spring schools. Later, she taught permanently in the fourth grades at Central Ward, South Ward, and Washington Elementary schools for a total of 24 years.
John continued to teach and then served as Principal of Big Spring High School from 1934-1944, having taught for a total of 16 years.
In July of 1944, John began a new career as the Tax and Insurance Manager with Cosden Petroleum Corporation. After 26 years in that position with Cosden, John retired in October of 1970.
Margaretta and John had two children; Robert Thomas, born August 26, 1931 and Glenna Keith, born November 22, 1936. Both children graduated from Big Spring High School and Baylor University. Robert Thomas (Bob) continued his education, graduating from the University of Texas Medical School and practiced as a Psychiatrist in Fort Worth, Texas. Bob is the father of three children. Glenna taught school in the Dallas Schools for several years and become the mother of four children.
Margaretta and John were both active in church, community, and professional organizations. First Baptist Big Spring was the center of their lives. Both taught Sunday School for many years and John served as a church deacon and board chairman.
In addition to her church work, Margaretta was a member of the 1905 Hyperion Club, a women’s organization dedicated to improving the Big Spring community. She was also active in the Child Study Club, Parent Teachers Association, and the Texas State Teachers Association (having served as its president). Her Saturday afternoons for several years were spent as a volunteer at the Big Spring State Hospital.
Margaretta died of cancer on March 30, 1965.
Community organizations for John included 25 years perfect attendance at the Kiwanis Club, the Society for Crippled Children, March of Dimes, and a trustee of Howard County Junior College from 1952-1971.
In December of 1967, John married Cleta Faye Fryar, the widow of James Harvey Fryar. She, at the time, was the librarian at Howard County Junior College.
Upon their retirement, John and Cleta Faye moved to New Braunfels, Texas. John continued his involvement in the community with the Kiwanis Club, Retired Teachers Association, and SCORE, an organization for retired executives. He was also active in the New Braunfels First Baptist Church, having served as the church treasurer.
John Askew Coffey passed away on December 5, 1997 in Fort Worth, Texas. Six years later, Cleta Faye died on January 8, 2003 in Fredericksburg, Texas.
We Met At Baylor
written by John Askew Coffey (on 6/24/1984) edited slightly by his grandson, John (on 3/23/2012)
Professor Cagle’s wife taught a girl’s Sunday School class of at the 7th & James Baptist Church near the Baylor campus. They were having a party on Friday, April 13, 1928, and a boy friend of one of the girls had been commissioned by his girl to round up four or five boys at Brooks Hall and bring them along to help fill out partners for the girls.
I was one of those boys and we all went by G.B. Hall and walked with a group of girls out to the Cagle home on South Fifth Street. As I was sitting on a couch in the living room, a girl came in, and I was all attention, perhaps a little heart flutter.
She was Margaretta Sanders, and before the evening was over I was hopelessly in love.
I completed my college work that summer and graduated in August. Margaretta also attended summer school to make up for some hours she had lost in transferring to Baylor, and I know that both our grades suffered that summer from less study.
I was working in the Brooks Hall Dorm office between terms and George Gentry came by to make a room reservation for a friend. Through George’s help I was offered a job teaching Math at Big Spring High School.
(Now I was really sure that 13 way my lucky number for it took me 13 hours to get to Big Spring on the train and I was to receive 13 hundred and fifty dollars for the year as a teacher.)
Margaretta graduated in June 1929, and worked for Fort Worth Poultry & Egg that summer while I had a summer job with West Texas Utilities in McCamey.
We were married in Fort Worth on August 29, 1929 and went to Big Spring where I was teaching. Margaretta later started teaching and then our son Robert Thomas was born August 26, 1931, and then Glenna Keith on November 22, 1936. They both attended Baylor, Bob graduated in 1952 and Glenna in 1959
The Lord must have had some special task that needed done in Heaven for he called Margaretta home early on March 30, 1965.
John Askew Coffey is the father of Glenna Moore.
Glenna Keith Coffey Moore
Obituary published in the Dallas Morning News
Nine letters, “Yankee Iron Horse.” As an avid crossword puzzler, Glenna Moore knew the answer—Lou Gehrig. When Glenna penciled in the name ‘Lou Gehrig’ on countless crossword puzzles, little did she know they would one day share something life-altering in common.
On July 27, 2007, Glenna Keith Coffey Moore, age 70, passed away after living the past two years with ALS, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Wife, mother, grandmother, teacher and friend to all, Glenna will be remembered for her radiant smile, contagious laughter, and always-caring heart.
Glenna’s life began on November 22, 1936 in Big Spring, TX as the daughter of John Askew Coffey and Margaretta Sanders Coffey. The Coffeys were schoolteachers and instilled the teacher traits of patience and grace with their daughter. Glenna graduated from Baylor University in 1959 with a B.A. (Education) degree where she served as President of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.
After college, Glenna moved to Dallas, TX and followed in her parent’s footsteps as a fourth-grade teacher at George W. Truett Elementary School from 1959 to 1962.
On a blind date in the fall of 1961 she met William Alvin Moore, Jr. (Al). It was a classic case of opposites attract. Being outgoing and talkative, Glenna never envisioned herself finding Al, the much more introverted of the two, attractive—but she did. And in the summer of ’62, they married.
By the spring of 1963, Glenna and Al were living in Fort Worth, TX when they welcomed the birth of their first daughter, Melana Love Moore (Lana). A second child, this time a boy, followed soon thereafter—William Alvin Moore, III (Trip). And in 1970, girl/boy twins arrived—Margaret Elizabeth Moore (Marty) and John Hardin Moore (John).
The Moore Family settled into their North Dallas home on Tophill Circle where Glenna took care of the kids and Al took care of his young, growing business.
Glenna led a very active life during this time. Besides the full-time job of being a mother, Glenna found time to volunteer for Meals on Wheels, participate in numerous Parent Teacher Associations, and be an active member of Spring Valley Methodist Church and later, Prestonwood Baptist Church and Park Cities Baptist Church.
For thirty-plus years, Glenna enjoyed the camaraderie and competition from playing tennis at T Bar M Tennis Club. She played on numerous teams with the Tennis Competitors of Dallas, the Women’s Tennis Association, and as a mixed-doubles partner with Al. Some of Glenna’s fondest times were spent on and off-the-court with her tennis friends.
Because of her personable, dependable, and likeable ways, Glenna developed friendships easily. Some of her most enduring friendships were formed within her long-running neighborhood bridge club and more recently, her dominoes group.
She was fortunate to remain close to her brother, Robert Thomas Coffey, M.D. of Fort Worth, TX.
Glenna was also fortunate to enjoy the endearing friendship of Trip’s wife, Jacqueline Blair Moore, and their two children—Blair Christian Moore and Hannah Love Moore. Glenna absolutely adored her two grandchildren who affectionately called her ‘GiGi.’
But Glenna’s most enduring and endearing friendship was with her husband of 45-years. By the time their kids had grown and moved away, Al and Glenna became the dating couple they used to be and set forth to live and love till eternity. As a couple, they traveled the world enjoying the adventures of barging down the canals of France, cruising through the Straits of Magellan, and ballooning over Switzerland.
Unfortunately, the creeping paralysis of the ALS disease put a stop to their worldly travels.
As the disease progressed, Glenna’s body became weaker but her bond with Al became stronger. Their unfailing love was on display every day as Al took care of his ailing wife until her passing.
And now, Glenna patiently waits for Al to join her in their most adventurous travels yet—the glorious eternity of Heaven.
Glenna was married to Al Moore for 45 years and was the mother of Lana, Trip, Marty, and John Moore.
Further Reading:
The Courtship of Al and Glenna
The Wedding
Glenna Remembers Al’s Father and Stepfather
The Origins of the Name: Glenna Keith
Brotherly Advice from Bob
Summer of ’62
Glenna Moore’s Niche at Sparkman/Hillcrest
Melana Love Moore Eaves
Lana was granted her angel wings on April 19, 2011. Her final days were spent surrounded by family and friends who Lana had touched in so many ways throughout her short, but memorable life. Lana was 47.
She leaves behind her adoring husband (Denny), her father (Al), two brothers (Trip and John), her sister (Marty), sisters-in-law (Jackie and Patty), niece (Hannah) and nephews (Stevie and Blair).
Melana (Lana) Love Moore Eaves was born May 16, 1963, in Ft. Worth, Texas. She graduated from Richardson High School in 1981. Throughout her twenties and thirties, Lana worked at various restaurants in Dallas.
She met the love of her life Denny Eaves, in 1990. They married on May 18, 2008.
Lana was sweet, kind, and gentle. She had a heart of gold. She was a passionate fan of Dallas sports, especially the Cowboys and Mavericks.
Lana has found everlasting serenity. She is free from the pains of this life and free again to feel the unfailing love of her mother, Glenna.
Lana is the daughter of Al and Glenna Moore and was the wife of Denny Eaves.