Mimo

This week we lost our sweet Mimo to cancer. She was such a very important part of our lives for eleven years and we will miss her so much. She was a truly remarkable person -- this is the beautiful obituary that her daughter Allyson wrote and it captures her spirit well.





Marjorie Y. Moore, of Franklin, Tenn., died Sept. 26, 2011 in in Huntsville, Ala. at a home she renovated in the Twickenham District.

Born in Stockton, Calif., she attended Mills College where she met the dashing Army Air Corp pilot she would marry and join on an exciting Air Force journey that spanned 36 years and 35 moves.

As a military spouse, she saw her husband’s participation in three wars (World War II, Korea, and Vietnam) and steady rise through the officer ranks, culminating in his promotion to four-star general, commander in chief of Military Airlift Command. During that time she headed the Air Force Officer’s Wives Club and chaired activities that benefited servicemen and their families along with organizations, such as the Red Cross, that supported them.

She was called to entertain at many protocol events and graciously hosted senators, congressional representatives, foreign dignitaries, other notables and sometimes even notorious public figures, such as Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Imelda.

Her interior design skills were widely known and she was frequently asked to renovate bachelor and visiting officer quarters at the various bases where she and her husband were stationed. After retirement, she often wielded hammer and tape measure as she pursued her favorite pastime, building and renovation projects.

While stationed at Stewart Air Force Base in Smyrna, Tenn., General and Mrs. Moore developed deep and lasting friendships with families in the Middle Tennessee area and selected nearby Franklin as their retirement site. Their historic Queen Anne home became another project and hub of activity once Bill took on a second career as president of the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority.

While in Franklin, she was active in various volunteer capacities and especially enjoyed her time on the board of the O’More College of Design.

Mrs. Moore is survived by her husband, Gen. William G. Moore Jr.; daughter, Allyson M. Kirkpatrick; son-in-law, Raymond C. Kirkpatrick III; and beloved grandson, William Todd Moore Kirkpatrick.






Roger, the girls and I attended a lovely graveside ceremony yesterday (Thursday, Sept. 29, 2011) at 4 p.m. at the Maple Hill Cemetery in Huntsville, Alabama. It was nice to meet some of the people that Mimo has told me about for years - and also to see some of the people who meant so much to her here in Franklin - including Jackie (her long-time electrician who she always told me was "like a son to her") and Leslie and Keith Davis who used to own our house and know what a wonderful neighbor she was.

This is the text of a letter that I wrote to Mimo's family with some memories -- I want to include it here for the girls to remember her by when they are older.



September 26, 2011

Dear General Moore, Allyson, Kirk and Todd,
There are no words to convey how very sorry I was to hear of the loss of our dear Mimo (as we called her). I know that you – more than anyone – recognize what a truly unique person she was – but I wanted to share some thoughts and memories with you. When we first moved to our house Leslie told us that we were getting not just a house but a wonderful neighbor. At the time we didn’t realize that Mimo would become part of our family.

She was the most generous and thoughtful person I ever knew – she never missed the girls’ birthdays (or mine for that matter) and would arrive at Christmas, Halloween AND Easter with bags of perfectly wrapped, coordinated gifts for the girls – always beautiful outfits (with matching bows and socks), special dolls and tutus. She would always make sure they opened them right away and that I wouldn’t make them wait. And it wasn’t just the big holidays that she would mark -- I can’t count the number of times that I came home to find an apple pie on my counter and a quart of vanilla ice cream in the freezer. Or how often the phone would ring and Mimo would say, “Meet me at your gate!” Then she would be standing there with a bag of clementines (because she thought the girls would enjoy them) or a wheel of Saga blue cheese (because “I know you like it and its hard to find”) or a pint of Haagen Dazs Swiss Almond ice cream or box of Dove bars (“just because”). I remember one summer night about two years ago – we were chatting at the end of the driveway (a common occurrence) and trying to decide what to make for dinner. The girls were asking for Mexican but I didn’t have the ingredients and didn’t want to go to the store. Well, about 20 minutes later she appeared on our patio with a bag of Taco Bell for everyone! It was so very typical of her, but I hope you know we never took it for granted.

I will cherish the week that we spent together at their home in Seaside, Florida. She was such an incredible hostess – she arrived a week early to get everything ready for us. She arranged for a crib and high chair to be delivered for Mary Clare (who was just a baby); in the high chair was a giant stuffed green frog that we named ‘Kirby’. To this day, Kirby is a fixture in our house. When Erin was a baby, Kirby went everywhere with us – including being buckled in next to her in the cart at the grocery store. She loved it because it was from Mimo. On that trip, we ate lunch and dinner with General Moore and Mimo every day. It was a wonderful opportunity to get to know them and it laid the foundation for our future relationship. Mimo and I had lots of fun going antiquing on that trip!

Mimo was also incredibly helpful as a neighbor – with our renovation projects she was always full of help and advice. On more than one occasion I would be talking to her and complaining that I couldn’t find someone to do something around the house and – literally – within the hour the phone would ring and someone would say, “Mrs. Moore asked me to call you. She said you need some help.” Mimo never failed to compliment me on one of my gardening projects – even those that I look back on and cringe in embarrassment! She was always encouraging our efforts, despite the results. She had a real eye for detail and would come up with solutions to problems that I was having in decorating or designing something –and then make it seem as though it was my idea all along! And she was so proud of Allyson’s talent in this area – she was always saying, “Oh, Allyson would know exactly what to do! You should see what she did at so-and-so function.”

Mimo loved our girls – and all children. So many evenings I would be outside with the girls playing and Mimo would come out with her after-dinner trash bag. The girls would spot her and start screaming, “Mimo”!! They would hang on our fence yelling at her until she crossed 10th Avenue to say hello. Most times they would get invited to come back to her house for a visit. She taught them both to march -- “hut, two, three four” – and they would march in to General Moore’s library and salute him on their way to the kitchen. They always came home with pockets full of little Hershey bars and bags of Cheetos. As they left, they had to stop to get a swing on “Mimo’s Gate.” They would hang by their knees from her fence and say, “Look Mimo! Look at me!!!” Whenever the girls were selected to bring a “special friend” to school they always picked Mimo. She would come and sit in their preschool classrooms and listen to the songs and look at all the art and they would be so proud to have her there. Last year she came to BGA for Mary Clare’s Grandparents Day; it will always be such a wonderful memory for me of how much she enjoyed that day.

She was so encouraging of me as a young mother and young wife. When we moved into the house I had just turned 30 and was working full-time. She saw me through our wedding, pregnancies and motherhood. I feel as though she mentored me into adulthood. Not once did she say anything but an encouraging word about how we were raising the girls – and it was so nice to hear on those days when I thought they would never sleep through the night, or get potty trained, or learn their ABCs. She was always telling me that she wished she had had more children – and that is because she loved Allyson so much. And even the mere mention of Todd could bring her to tears! She would dash into the house and come out with a picture of Todd – she especially loved the one of him in his sandals from Spain! She just adored being his “Ninna” – I loved hearing her tell the story about the time that he told her she wasn’t old, she was new!

Her devotion to General Moore was inspiring. She was so very proud of him and would do anything for him. I loved it when we would have some quiet time and she would show me the pictures of their life in the Air Force. I love the pictures of the ball gowns and uniforms. And I treasure the stories of their time in Germany, Hawaii, the Philippines and Washington, DC, as well as growing up in California with her dear sister and parents and their times at their lake house and Seaside.

She also loved animals – she would call me to say, ”Turn on Channel 2! Do you see the story about that animal abuser?! Well, I’d like to just shoot him myself!” For as long as Snowball was alive, and for a long time afterwards as well, she would carry Milkbone dog biscuits in her pockets for our dog and other dogs that she might meet around the neighborhood. Both our dogs learned to recognize and love her and would – just like the girls – stand on the gate and bark when they saw her – in pure delight!

I am going to miss our 5 o’clock phone chats, seeing her drive by and hear her horn honk in greeting, those long conversations standing on the sidewalk outside her house. Especially on the gorgeous fall and spring days when she would reminisce about California’s weather. I know that Mimo is now out of pain, without worry, reunited with her parents and sister, Snowball and Dusty, and looking over all of you. I feel as though she is our new guardian angel – watching over the girls as Erin learns to read and Mary Clare blossoms into a young lady. We will miss her so much, every day. Thank you so much for sharing her with us.






.These are some pictures of Mimo with the girls. We brought them to the reception after the funeral yesterday and it was very important to the girls that they share them with everyone -- they wanted people to know how important Mimo was to them. I am so glad we have these pictures - I will cherish them always.

This is Mimo with Mary Clare at Grandparents Day at BGA last spring. The girls always invited Mimo to their special days at school and I am so glad she was able to come to this event.

Here are the girls going trick-or-treating at Mimo's house a few years ago.

This is Mary Clare showing Mimo something in her classroom after she had graduated from preschool in 2009.

This is Mimo with the girls on Grandparents' Day a few years ago. Mary Clare had been learning to write and she made Mimo a "book" which you can see in her hand. They were getting a big squeeze!

After delivering the book they got a swing on Mimo's garden gate.

This was a near nightly scene - the girls hanging on our gate yelling "Miiiiiimmmoooo" in the hopes that she would cross the street and come for a visit.

This is Mimo with Erin after coming to Erin's "Special Me" Day at school -- each child is allowed to invite a special guest and they always picked Mimo.

Here is Mimo bringing Mary Clare home one day after one of their many special visits together.

In this picture you can see that Mary Clare has chocolate bars in her pockets and a cookie in her hand!

Here is Erin peeking in Mimo's door to see if she is home.