Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Milton led an exemplary life of hard work, generosity and kindness. His generosity was not restricted to a checkbook, but was a genuine quality of his personality. He had a generosity of spirit. Milton was open and non-judgmental to all he met, giving of himself, his empathy and his time freely to others. His instinctive response was always “how can I help?”
Milton earned his Eagle Scout badges in Sunbury, Pa., during the Depression, and those Scout virtues of service and hard work were ingrained in him and reflected in life. He met all of life’s ups and downs with equanimity, with that response “how can I help?”
He was a devoted husband for 62 years to Jean Kline Moore, who died in 2004. In 1970, the couple was in a terrible car crash that left Jean partly paralyzed, and as she aged, her mobility and health were greatly diminished. Milton was a cheerful 24/7 caregiver to her in her later years, saddened by each turn in her afflictions yet happy he was there to keep her in her home. His love for her was unshakable.
He graduated from Lafayette College with a degree in mining engineering in 1943 with an expertise in explosives and blasting. He immediately enlisted in the Navy and served as a CPO conducting research in underwater demolition in Newport News, Va. After the war, he was employed as a mining engineer at National Gypsum Co., in Bellefonte, Pa., before moving to Westfield, Mass., in 1951 to begin a 35-year-career at the trap rock quarries of John S. Lane & Son. He quickly moved to general manager of the five-quarry company and quarterbacked its expansion through the boom years of the construction of the Mass. Turnpike. In Westfield, he was active in fraternal and civic organizations and served as moderator of the First Congregational Church … “How can I help?”
He retired to Chatham in 1986 to live in an energy efficient home of his own design on Great Hill. His engineering drive saw him landscape terraces and walks using a shovel and a wheelbarrow. Milton was enthusiastic in his involvement in the neighborhood group, the Great Hills Estates Assn. and was a principal in the core of neighbors who revived the group in the 1990s. He stayed active in the spring cleanup and trails building well into his 90s. He would visit neighbors who were ill or shut-ins, usually bringing a baked treat or a bag of the tomatoes he loved to cultivate. His passion for bridge and general manager’s mindset saw him organize a number of weekly bridge games with a long call list of players.
His cheerful attitude and kindness will be missed by all those who knew him.
He is survived by a daughter, Elizabeth Roberts of San Diego, Calif., and Milton D. Moore III, a former photographer and editor of the Cape Cod Times; two grandchildren, Nathan Roberts and Sarah Dion; and three great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday, July 10, at the Presbyterian Church of Cape Cod on Iyannough Road, West Barnstable. Burial will be private.
Donations in his memory can be made to the Eldredge Public Library in Chatham.
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
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