Cloudy, 40° F
(May 17, 2006)
Mary Ellen Moore, 82, of Billings, died Wednesday, May 17, 2006.
She was born on March 22, 1924, in Worden, Mont., the daughter of a true Montana cowboy and his schoolmarm wife, Jack and Grace Horton Kirch. As a school girl, she and her mother would ride on horseback to the one-room Baseline school, and for four of those years, her mother was also her teacher. As a young child she would sit at a treadle sewing machine and pretend that she was playing a piano.
At long last, when she was in third grade, her parents gave her a piano. She had an agreement with her dad that for each piece of music she memorized, she would get two new pieces. Within a very short time, this promise had to be broken - she was a natural musician and could memorize everything she played.
Following graduation from the Hysham school system, she began her career working at the Hysham post office, and while working there was swept off her feet by Donald Moore, who had come to Montana to work as a ranch hand. In 1942, she and Don were married while Don was serving in the Army in World War II. She and Don were the parents of two children, Donna and John.
She and Don managed the Yucca Theater in Hysham in addition to other full-time jobs. They moved to Powell in 1953 where he worked for Dave Manning Construction on the Hart Mountain Reclamation project and she began her career as a legal secretary.
They returned to Billings in the early 1980s where she continued working in the legal field until her retirement. She was known for her knitting skills, her musical abilities and her loyalty to the attorneys for whom she worked. She was a caring mother and grandmother.
She is survived by her daughter, Donna (John) Halpin of Hudson, Ohio; and her son, John (Carol) of Pocatello, Idaho. She is also survived by her grandson, Brett Kreutzmann of Fairfield, Ohio; her granddaughter, Shaunna Loveland of Burbank, Wash.; and two great grandchildren.She was preceded in death by her parents, Jack and Grace Kirch, and her husband, Don Moore.
Funeral services were Saturday, May 20, at Michelotti-Sawyers Mortuary.
Interment followed at Mountview Cemetery. If desired, memorials may be sent to the Treasurer County 89ers, Hysham, MT 59038 for the restoration of the Yucca Theater.Michelotti-Sawyers was in charge of arrangements.
