Gene Moore

Elmer Eugene (Gene) Moore of New Braunfels, TX was born November 22, 1924 and passed away July 7, 2019 at the age of 94 in New Braunfels, Gene was born in the small East Texas farming community of Oakhurst in San Jacinto County. He was the seventh of eight children born to Fernanda Patterson Moore and Carrie Eldora Hood Moore. Gene was not quite 4 years old when his father passed away. Times were hard and his mother made the decision to place the four youngest children, Wilburn, Bernice, Gene and Etta in the Corsicana State Home, also known as the State Orphan’s Home. He lived in the home from July 4, 1932 until his mother took them out in 1940. He always had fond memories of the home and enjoyed going back to the school reunions. In 1940 he moved to Poteet, TX with his mother and attended school there. In 1942, at age 18, and a senior at Poteet High School, he left school and joined the U.S. Navy. He was inducted in 1943. He stayed in the Navy until the end of World War II and then returned to Poteet to finish his senior year of high school. Gene’s working career carried him around the world. From the barges off the coast of Louisiana, to the Middle East and South America with Brown & Root, to the oil refineries in the Baytown and Houston area. Gene was a history buff with an incredible memory for dates, places and details. Several years ago he was able to go on the Honor Flight trip to Washington, DC with his son, Bobby, and tour the WWII monuments. In his retirement he loved to garden, collect silver coins and even gamble a little. On February 16, 2003, Gene married Jo Ann Mangum Riley, who he knew from his years in Poteet. They enjoyed 16 years of family, friends, music, reunions and traveling. Gene is survived by his wife, Jo Ann Moore of New Braunfels. Daughters and sons-in-law, Linda and Arthur Jones of Diboll, TX, Kim and Bill Whitbeck of San Marcos, TX and Jill and David Ralph of New Braunfels. Son and daughter-in-law, Bobby and Nadine Moore of Lufkin, TX, son Randall Riley of New Braunfels and daughter-in-law Dolores Riley of Highland, Utah. Grandchildren and their families, Tara and Joe Cole, Mason and Paxton of Diboll, Sarah Moore of Lufkin, Susan Moore and son, Henry Gene Moore, of Tulsa, OK, Brandi and Dan Irish, Cody Rackliff and Scarlett Irish of Pittston, ME, Stephen Eiseman and Tammy Berger, Stephen, Stephanie and Shane of Akron, OH, Jason Eiseman, Kerra and Hale also of Akron, Spencer Hale of Pikeville, TN, Bobbie Marie and Sam Sanchez, Ainsley, Sammy, John David and Audrey of Ft. Worth, TX, Andrew and Alexandra Ralph, Adalyn, Eloise, Henry and Charles of Wilton, CT, Emily and Justin Loftin of New Braunfels, Eric and Jenna Ralph and Connor of Richmond, TX, Clint Riley of Boulder, CO, Kristen and Blake Jansen Tyler Bree, Riley, Blakely and Bennett of Highland, UT, Musician Third Class Kathryn Whitbeck, U.S. Navy of San Marcos, and David Whitbeck of San Marcos. He is also survived by the mother of his children, Sue Moore of Lufkin, brother and sister-in-law Jimmy and Cathie Church of Huntington, TX, brother-in-law Jessie Church of Lufkin, sister-in-law Betty Phillips of Georgetown, TX, son-in-law John Stephens of Central Heights, TX and a favorite nephew and his wife, James and Sherry Moore of Huntington. He was preceded in death by his sisters and brother, Lucille Rowe, Hazel Perkins, Robbie Landry, Etta Alexander, Willie Moore, Wilburn Moore and Bernice Moore; two daughters, Sandra Stephens and Sherry Eiseman, son Don Riley and brother-in-law Walter Church. In lieu of flowers, memorials to fund scholarships may be made to: Poteet Aggie Senior Association, c/o Becky Goins Leal, P.O. Box 562, Poteet, TX 78065 or Center Hill Cemetery Association, P.O. Box 222, Oakhurst, TX 77359.