Ruby Vanderpoorten Moore

Ruby was born to Franklin and Beverly Vanderpoorten on a stormy night of high water and washed out roads in Watseka Illinois on the last day of November, 1936. Anxious to get back home with their newborn the young couple walked the final miles from the hospital with babe in arms to their small home along Sugar Creek which was made whole by her arrival.

As an only child Ruby and her mother traveled with Franklin as his work took him back and forth across the United States. She was a beautiful and artistic child and entertained herself sketching the people and places they visited. Her parents loved to travel, meet new people, and embrace other cultures. Ruby’s education included all of this and she had fond memories of riding burros far back into the mountains of Mexico, listening to her father on trombone and his friends playing jazz late into the evening, and spending time with German families that had fled the Nazis to settle in Texas.

While in Texas Ruby asked her parents if they might stop traveling long enough for her to finish at least one grade in the same school and so they settled in San Antonio just before Ruby entered high school. At Edison High Ruby made many friends, participated in Pep Club, played softball, and was crowned Miss Teena Texas her junior year. Although she was embarrassed by the title everyone agreed Ruby was a natural beauty both inside and out.

Ruby attended Trinity University in San Antonio and received her Bachelors in Elementary Education and most of a Master’s degree in English. She taught elementary school in Austin, TX before moving to Norfolk, VA. In 1963 she met and married the love of her life, Jim Moore. Together with their 2 small children they moved to Tallahassee, FL where Jim attended Florida State and Ruby attended the family’s needs with love and care.

In the mid 1970’s Ruby and Jim decided to broaden their family’s horizons and moved to Las Cruces, NM. She and Jim spent many hours walking desert trails and watching their children thrive in the great outdoors. Evenings were spent watching the moon rise over the Organ Mountains while Jim played the guitar and family and friends sang folk songs together.

In 1976 they returned to Tallahassee and settled into a happy and bountiful life in an old ranbling house with a large and wild yard. Ruby never tired of watching wild turkeys, foxes, rabbits, birds and the other creatures that lived in their backwoods. When Jim passed away Ruby moved to Tucson, AZ to be with her daughter and best friend, Vivian. Her final years were happily spent in her beloved Southwest visiting art galleries, eating Mexican food, and making new friends.

In addition to being a loving wife and mother, Ruby also volunteered her artistic skills at Lemoyne Art Center, demonstrated weaving, spinning, and other old-timey craftwork at the Junior Museum, and taught arts and crafts at Lafayette Community Center. It was through her artwork, both teaching and taking classes, that Ruby made her best and life-long friends. She was happiest spinning yarns with her “Monday Muddlers” and exploring the little cafes, parks, and galleries that dot North Florida and South Georgia.

Her love for her family and friends and their love in return cannot be overstated. She was a beautiful and kind soul and all that knew her loved her. She goes forward into the waiting arms of her parents and loving husband and is survived by her son, Eugene Franklin Moore and wife Cindy (Snyder) Moore; daughter Vivian (Moore) MacKinnon and husband Aleck MacKinnon; Grandchildren Melinda Kristen and Robert Alexander Moore; many dear friends in Tallahassee, San Antonio, Las Cruces, and Tucson; and best friends Shelley, Barbara, Gail, Gertrude, and Cindy and Lloyd.

A small private family memorial was held in Tucson, AZ. In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be sent to LeMoyne Center for the Visual Arts - “Art for All Scholarships” or the charity of your choice.