David O. Moore, 95, former chair of the religion department at William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo., died Oct. 28.
Memorial Services were held on Nov. 12 at Second Baptist Church, Liberty, with private inurnment in the church’s Memorial Garden.
David O. Moore (left) shares a laugh with his friend Steve Hemphill during the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Heartland Celebration of Excellence April 21. Moore, a longtime William Jewell College Bible professor and religion department chair, died Oct. 28. Hemphill eulogized Moore during the memorial.Born into a southern Arkansas sharecropper/dairy farming family, David was the youngest of seven children. He was called to preach at 17 and traveled a weekend church circuit.
While maintaining that circuit, he earned a degree from Ouachita Baptist College in Arkadelphia, Ark., in 1946. At Ouachita, he excelled as a scholar, championship debater and coach of a girl’s basketball team.
David married Loreta McClain of Hot Springs County in Malvern, Ark., on Aug. 10, 1943, and immediately drove all night to Louisville, Ky., and his studies at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he earned a Ph.D. in philosophy in 1949.
He came to Jewell in 1956 to serve as professor of Bible and retired 30 years later as chair of the religion department.
From classroom to coaching the NAIA award-winning golf team to studying the spirituality of American Indian nations, he led both students and colleagues on intellectual, spiritual and life-affirming paths, according to his obituary.
He is a member of Jewell’s Teacher Hall of Fame.
After retirement, his interests included woodworking, quantum physics, the plays of August Wilson and Shakespeare, boats on British canals, hummingbirds, cheering on the Kansas City Royals and his last dog, Kirby.
He officiated at the weddings of his three children and three grandchildren.
Survivors include his wife of 73 years, Loreta; his children, Shera Farnham (Doug DeMuth), Anthem, Ariz.; Kathy Dunn (Jim), Liberty; and Cliff Moore (Brenda), Springfield, Mo.; seven grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; many nieces and nephews; and his friend, Bill Riggs.
The family requested no flowers. Memorial gifts can be made to Second Baptist Church, Liberty, Mo.; Heartland Habitat for Humanity, Kansas City, Kan.; or a charity of choice.
