Vernon Osroe Moore

Lt. Col. Vernon O. Moore of 3600 Park Road, Charlotte, N.C. passed away on July 31, 2011 at Atria Merrywood Senior Living, his home for the past 15 years. Son of Vernon O. Moore, Sr. and Eliza J. Camp Moore Black, he was born on November 21, 1916, in Grover, N.C. The funeral will be held on Saturday, August 6, 2011 at 3:00 P.M. at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Cherryville, N.C. The family will receive friends at the church from 2:00 P.M - 2:45 P.M. Interment will follow at the City Cemetery, Cherryville, N.C. beside his wife of 54 years, Alpha Ford Moore, who preceded him in death in May, 1994.

A World War II and Korean War Army Veteran of 29 years, he joined the Army in 1935 at Fort Bragg, N.C. After receiving a Presidential Commission in 1939, he was ordered to duty as a 2nd Lt. and was assigned to HQ 13th F.A. Brigade as Communications Officer. Later, he was transferred to the 813th T.D. Battalion and was sent to England and then to North Africa during the African campaign. Following the Italian invasion, he was assigned to the 185th F.A. Battalion, 34th Infantry Division, until the end of World War II.

He was an instructor at Ground General School at Fort Riley, Kansas when the Korean War began. He was sent to Japan, where he was assigned to the G-2 Section, Far East Command, where he headed the North Korean Section and later the Chinese Section of G-2. His favorite remark was that he was “over General MacArthur”, explaining that MacArthur was on the fifth floor of the Headquarters and he was on the seventh.

Following the Korean Armistice, Moore was assigned to the Pentagon as Chief of the Chinese Section of G-2. He later returned to Fort Bragg as Executive Officer, 3rd U.S. Army Missile Command. He retired from the Army in 1964. He and his wife, Alpha, made Charlotte their home. He worked for eight years with the U.S. Civil Service Commission and another eight years as a N.C. Magistrate. He retired for the last time in December 1980. Mr Moore was a charter member of the Metrolina Chapter of The Retired Officers Association. A member of Incarnation Lutheran Church of Charlotte, he served on the Church Council and other committees. He was also a volunteer with Charlotte’s Loaves and Fishes.

In addition to his parents and wife, he was preceded in death by his sister, Alice Moore Beam. He is survived by one son, Gerald (“Jerry”) and his wife Mary Moore of Atlanta, G.A. and three grandchildren: Sheri Moore Taylor, Darren Moore and wife Alison, and Aaron Moore, and three great grandchildren: Dustin Taylor and Skyler and Sahara Moore, all of the metro Atlanta area. He is also survived by his brother, Rodney Black, and his wife Sybil of Crouse, N.C. as well as a special nephew R.B. Black, and several special nieces: Robin Black, Judy Ford Houser, Susan Ford Heavner, and other nieces and nephews.

Harry and Bryant Co. is serving the family of retired Lt. Col. Vernon Moore. Officiating at the funeral and memorial services will be the Rev. Todd Zielinski. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Presbyterian Hospice and Palliative Care, PO Box 33549, Charlotte, NC 28233.