Caroline Moyer

Passed away on August 18, 2012 at the age of 92 at Inova Fairfax Hospital after a brief illness. She was born on April 16, 1920 in Chicago, and grew up in Hyde Park. Her father, Carl Henry Grabo, was a professor of English at the University of Chicago specializing in the early English Romantic poets with a particular love for the poetry of Shelley. He was also a writer with a wide-range of diverse interests from children’s books to critical works on Shelley to spy novels he co-wrote with Herbert O. Yardley. One of these collaborations, “The Blond Countess,” was made into a movie "Rendezvous". Despite a strong cast starring William Powell and Rosalind Russell, the movie was not favorably reviewed. Her mother, Elizabeth May Thomas of Webb City, MO, was also a teacher who taught languages and music at a women’s seminary. She met her future husband while attending a summer school program at the University. Caroline attended the University of Chicago school system from the nursery school run by her mother and other faculty wives, to the University’s elementary school, and onto U. High. She graduated from the University of Chicago in 19941 with a B.A. in History. Caroline was very active in the University's club life and continued her career as a dedicated student which culminated in her being appointed student aide to the president. In 1942, Caroline married Robert Reynolds Moyer also of Chicago and a 1939 graduate of the U. of Chicago’s Business School. Robert was active in his fraternity, Kappa Sigma, and also elected to Scribe in Blackfriars, the theatrical club which produced the all-male drag Spring Review. The young couple spent the war years in Cambridge, OH with Robert working at Continental Can Co. for the war industry. In 1952 his career took them to Massachusetts where they lived for the next seventeen years raising their four children. They enjoyed the mix of living in a small, picturesque historic town nestled in the beautiful Connecticut River Valley and right next to the thriving city of Springfield with its busy downtown shopping district and cultural opportunities afforded by art and science museums and symphony hall. In the early 1960s Caroline went to work at the main branch of the Springfield Library. She found her true calling in librarianship. In the late 1960s after another move for Robert’s work to the Missouri, she found employment in the Reference Department at the St. Louis County Library. She spent several years working toward her Masters of Library Science while continuing to work full time by going part-time to night classes and eventually commuting to a summer school program on weekends to Columbia, MO. She received her MLS in 1975 and became head of the Reference Department in St. Louis County Library System where she worked until retirement in 1986. Robert and Caroline took advantage of the cultural life in St. Louis, with season tickets to the St. Louis Symphony and the new and exciting opera company in neighboring Webster Groves. They also traveled overseas at this time often renting a car for tooling around England and Scotland or the continent. Robert died in March, 1985. In 1986, Caroline moved to the Washington area to be near family. She worked for several years as a reference librarian with the Fairfax County Library at three regional branches, Reston, Fairfax and George Mason, retiring in 1991. She spent the next 10 years travelling the globe with her sister, Cynthia Grabo, who had retired after a long and distinguished career as an intelligence analyst with the Pentagon. Caroline is survived by her four children, Cynthia Turner of Santa Fe, Stephen B. Moyer of San Ramon, CA, and Elizabeth Durning and Michael Moyer of Fairfax Co., four grandchildren, and her sister, Cynthia Grabo of Greenspring Village, Springfield, VA. Family will receive friends at Demaine Funeral Home, 5308 Backlick Rd., Springfield, VA August 26, 3-6 pm. A Memorial Service will be held at Greenspring Gardens at the Horticultural Center, 4603 Green Spring Rd., Alexandria, VA, August 27, between 5-7 pm.