Richard Moore

RICHARD MOORE

Mount Vernon

Richard Arthur Moore, 81, of Mount Vernon, died at home Tuesday evening, June 30, 2015. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, July 8, at the United Methodist Church of Mount Vernon. The family will receive visitors at the church on Tuesday from 5 to 7 p.m. Burial: 2 p.m. Wednesday at Campbell Cemetery, Bertram, with military honors. Stewart Baxter Funeral & Memorial Services, Mount Vernon, is in charge of arrangements.

Dick was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Feb. 21, 1934, to Helen Jean Stoneking Moore and Kenneth Grant Moore, who divorced when he was 2 years old. His mother raised her three sons, Ken, Dick and Jack, on her parents' farm near Mount Vernon. Some of Dick's fondest reminiscences were of the three boys growing up together on the farm. He attended a one-room school, Caraway School, located on Mount Vernon Road, through sixth grade. Dick graduated from Mount Vernon High School in 1952, where he lettered in football, basketball and track. A football scholarship enabled him to attend the University of Nebraska, where he graduated with a degree in agriculture in 1956. He received a commission as a second lieutenant in the Air Force upon graduation and also a treasured pilot allocation. Dick later earned a master's degree in education from Pepperdine University.

Dick married his high school sweetheart, Barbara (Babs) Beckhelm, on Aug. 4, 1956, at the United Methodist Church of Mount Vernon and immediately went off to pilot training.

His 28-year career in the Air Force brought him great satisfaction as he flew a variety of multi-engine aircraft around the world, including two tours of duty in Southeast Asia. He flew WB-50 weather reconnaissance out of Guam with 34 typhoon penetrations. Other assignments took the Moores to Langley AFB, Hampton, Va., where he flew KB-50 refueling tankers with the mission of refueling jet aircraft mid-air as they crossed the Atlantic. Many of those missions were staged out of the Azores and, while there, his squadron often flew the Berlin corridor, in and out of Berlin during the mid-60s to remind the Soviets of the right of the United States to do so. After squadron officers' school in Montgomery, Ala., he served five years as aircraft commander of C-130 aircraft, performing air drops of men and equipment into trouble spots in the world. Later he served as a plans officer at Headquarters TAC, again at Langley AFB, Virginia, followed by a four-year tour in the Command Post of Headquarters PACAF at Hickam AFB, Honolulu, Hawaii, then on to the MAC Command Center at Scott AFB, O'Fallon, Ill. His last Air Force assignment was as professor of aerospace science, commanding the AFROTC unit at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Okla.

Upon retirement from the Air Force with the rank of colonel in 1983, Dick was able to take up his original career plan, that of returning to Mount Vernon and farming the farm where he was raised and which had been in his family since 1849. He often claimed how fortunate he was to have two such satisfying careers in one lifetime.

Preceding Dick in death are his parents; stepmother, Elizabeth Page Moore; his brother, John E. (Jack) Moore; his sister-in-law, Karen Benson Moore; and two nieces, Kim Bird and Kerry Moore.

Left to cherish Dick's memory are his wife of nearly 59 years, Babs Beckhelm Moore; his children of whom he was exceedingly proud, Richard A. Moore, Jr. (Donna), Bonnie Jean Wikstrom and Thomas Paul Moore (Beth); and his sister-in-law, Gretchen Beckhelm of Venice, Fla. His grandchildren were the joy of his life: Ryan Wikstrom (Dani Hoyt), Jami Wikstrom (Ryan Myers), Cody Moore, Hannah Moore and Sam Moore; and his great-grandson, Kenson Wikstrom.

Also surviving Dick are his brother, Kenneth E. Moore (Tel Dalton) of Austin, Texas, and Jack's wife, Nancy Gaston Moore, Paw Paw, Mich. Dick loved his many nieces and nephews and relished any time he was able to spend with them.

Dick was a member of the United Methodist Church of Mount Vernon where he served as chairman of the Council on Ministries for 24 years, taught Sunday school in the past and sang in the church choir. He was a past president of the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Rotary Club. For many years, he chaired the Board of Adjustment for the city of Mount Vernon.

Often described as a "walking encyclopedia of trivia," this former pilot/teacher/farmer was known to recite Shakespeare or poetry at a moment's notice. He lived his Christian faith and was a lifetime student of the Bible. He never met a stranger and all who knew him shall miss his ever-ready friendly handshake.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the United Methodist Church of Mount Vernon or Hospice of Mercy.

Please share your support and memories with Dick's family at www.stewartbaxter.com under obituaries.