~ IN MEMORY ~
Military veteran, SO/RC/NWA Capt. Clarence Rodgers Moore
September 7, 1931 ~ April 30, 2020
Notification with the passing of retired
Southern/Republic/Northwest Airlines pilot Captain Clarence Rodgers Moore, age
88. Widowed in 2018 with the passing of
his wife Mary, Captain Moore is survived by his daughters plus his grand- and
great grandchildren.
To view the obituary online please visit
Please see obituary for arrangements … also as noted below.
Thank you,
~ Carol for the PCN
Obituary………Clarence Rodgers Moore
Edmond, OK - Clarence Rodgers Moore of Edmond, OK passed on
April 30, 2020 at the age of 88, at home. He was born on Labor Day, Monday,
September 7, 1931 in Pearsall TX, the only child of of the late Clarence Monroe
Moore, a WWI veteran, and Elsie Mae (Rodgers) Moore. He grew up in a household
with his grandmother Laura (Gibson) Rodgers and blind uncle Clarence Bazzel
Rodgers. His father was a clerk for Seaman's Store and his mother ran the
Western Telephone Office and switchboard from their home in Mansfield, AR.
As a child Rodgers was enamored with flying, and music. He
held a newspaper route and worked as projectionist at the Dixie Theater in
Mansfield, saving for flying lessons, which he began at the age of 15, on a
crop duster. His childhood textbooks include his drawings of airplanes penciled
in buzzing around Abraham Lincoln's head. He attended Hartford and Mansfield,
AR schools, graduating from Mansfield High School in 1949. Following graduation
Rodgers enlisted in the Army National Guard at Fort Hood, Texas, and served as
a Corporal in the Korean War Conflict Theater through1952. After returning from
Korea, he married his sweetheart the late Mary Luan (Hearn) Moore of Greenwood
AR in 1953. She preceded him in death in 2018 after 65 years of marriage.
Rodgers and Luan lived in Tulsa OK, where he took flying
lessons and was an instructor for Ross Aviation and American Airlines. In 1958,
they relocated with two daughters to Nashville, TN, where he was a flight
instructor for American Airlines. In Jan 1960, Rodgers' life long dream came
true when he became a copilot for Southern Airways, and the family moved to
Memphis, TN where It grew with the birth of a son, and they remained until
1991. Rodgers served as a Captain with Southern Airways, Republic Airlines, and
Northwest Airlines until 1991. He was a career member and recruiter for the
ALPA, during a time when hijackings were rampant and pilot and flight safety
were greatly lacking, and worked, and went on strike for, advances in those
areas. He was a member and contributor to Parkway Village Baptist Church,
Southern Avenue Baptist Church, and Ridgeway Baptist Church.
Upon Rodgers' retirement, they moved near their family homes
to Fort Smith AR, where he became engrossed in genealogy and history. He was the
past president and secretary of the South Sebastian County Historical Society.
He was instrumental in the restoration of the Greenwood Old Jail Museum, the
Coal Miner's Memorial, and the donation and relocation to Greenwood AR of the
Vineyard Cabin built by Charles Blaylock, 1848. Rodgers was honored with an
appointment to the Arkansas Museum Services Panel in 1998 by then Governor Mike
Huckabee. He and his wife enjoyed travelling, especially to Alaska.
Rodgers is remembered for his quick smile, slow storytelling,
beautiful tenor voice, fishing, camping, trail riding, photography, and his
perfectionism (which he also expected from others). He loved building scale
remote control airplanes, HO train sets, and woodworking. In 2012, the Moores
relocated to Edmond OK near their eldest daughter, where they continued their
interest in family history and their grandchildren, which were scattered all
over the world.
Rodgers is survived by his daughters Rebecca Ann Moore of
Edmond OK, Mary Kathryn (Andrew) Platt of Oldwick, NJ, and a son, Clarence
Rodgers (Gina) Moore Jr. of Clearwater, FL, 9 grandchildren, and 9 great
grandchildren, and two great grandsons expected the fall 2020.
A memorial service is planned in his honor on Labor Day
Weekend, Saturday September 5, at Martin Funeral home, Mansfield AR, followed
by interment at Coop Prairie Cemetery, Mansfield AR near his wife, parents,
grandmother, and uncle.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his honor to
one of the following organizations:
City Rescue Mission 800 W. California Ave, Oklahoma City OK
73106 www.cityrescue.org
Oklahoma Humane Society of Oklahoma City PO Box 18471,
Oklahoma City OK 73154 www.okhumane.org
South Sebastian County Historical Society PO Box 523
Greenwood AR 72936 www.greenwoodmuseumonline.com
……………………………………..
Mary Luan (Hearn) Moore of Edmond, OK passed on October 1,
2018 at 83 years of age. She was born April 8, 1935, daughter of the late Boyd
and Mary (Dalton) Hearn in Greenwood, Arkansas.
No comments:
Post a Comment