Meredith Celeste Moore

She was beautiful inside and out, a supernova of compassion and courage, sweetness and spunk.

Growing up in Dallas, Meredith attended Preston Hollow Presbyterian Weekday School and Parish Episcopal High School, from which she was a 2010 graduate. She edited the school yearbook, ran varsity cross country and track and field, swam for the state championship swim team, and received the Wellesley book award. She flourished in AP photography, history, and literature classes. As a child she was baptized at Park Cities Baptist Church.

In 2014, she graduated with honors from Barnard College of Columbia University with a BA in Middle Eastern studies. She studied in Amman, Jordan, and then in Egypt at the University of Alexandria during her junior year to master the Arabic language. Her internships at Barnard included the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Conde Nast. She also worked on an illustrated version of the Shamineh, the first of its kind, and wrote for the Columbia newspaper.

She earned her JD from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law in 2023, followed by a masters degree in tax law from Southern Methodist University. She was a member of the Texas bar.

Her talents and interests were diverse. Since early childhood she had an intuitive love for animals; she spent her summers at Camp Longhorn riding horses, and she enjoyed rescuing and fostering stray animals. Her most recent project was checking each morning on a mother duck who had just laid eggs in the garden.

She had a fascination with foreign languages and distant cultures. She spoke excellent Arabic and also studied French, Italian, and Spanish. Her favorite museum was the British Museum in London. Her literary preferences spanned from Homer to The Financial Times. A transformative book for her was How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, which she credited with improving the way she related to people; indeed, she did win many friends along the way.

Meredith enjoyed good food but her passion was wine knowledge. Her favorite dish to create was a mean pasta speciality. In the interim between college and law school, she studied to be a sommelier, attaining level 2 in the Court of Master Sommeliers. She was thrilled that while working as a wait staff in NYC, her patrons included Ina Garten.

Meredith had eclectic interests. She took up competitive bodybuilding. She loved old movies, the campier the better. More than anything she was a correspondent, never without at least one journal and taking delight in writing personal notes posted with thoughtfully selected collectible stamps. She wrote hundreds of such missives. Thus, an opportunity for friends to return the favor and write her a sealed letter is being made available at the service. She will be buried with these notes.

Meredith leaves behind a family grieving her unfinished life. Her Dallas family includes her parents Dr. Celeste Vardaman and Dr. David and Rev. Amy Moore; siblings Tom Roma, Matt Roma and Erika Canales, Meg and Ryan King, and Sarah Moore; and nieces and nephews Caddis, Elli, and Revere King, Jax and Mae Roma, and Josephine Roma. Her aunts and uncles loved her fiercely: John and Dr. Carol Tingle of Ridgeland, MS, Deb and John Kilmer of St. Louis, Stephen Moore of Houston, Joseph and Wendy Moore of Washington, DC, and her “bonus” aunt and uncle, Dr. Martha Morse and the Rev. Dr. Al Staggs of San Antonio.

She grew up mischievously playacting roles as princesses Ariel and Belle and cheating to win at board games with her cousins: Dr. Jonathan Tingle and Dr. Mimi Ackleh of Atlanta, Robert and DeeDee Miller of Bedford, and Daniel Moore, Rachel Moore, Abigail Moore, Emery Moore, and Kilmer family Jeremey, Caroline, Chris, and Seth.

Until their deaths she was cherished by her grandparents: Owen and Cecelia Moore of Yazoo City, MS, and Dr. Jerry Vardaman and Dr. Alfalene Vardaman Morse of Starkville, MS. She is survived by her “bonus” grandfather, Dr. Jim Morse of San Antonio.

Meredith also leaves a vast number of extended family and friends in TX, MS, and NY. In particular, she cherished teachers and friends from Parish Episcopal School.

Meredith appreciated beauty and would have loved a bounty of flowers at her funeral. The family suggests any memorial donations be made to NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness).

There will be a visitation on Friday, March 27, at 10 am, at Sparkman-Hillcrest Funeral Home, followed by the service at 11 am. The burial will be graveside on Palm Sunday, March 29, at 1 pm, at Oddfellows Cemetery in Starkville, MS. According to Meredith’s wishes, she will be buried beside her maternal grandparents.

Meredith accomplished many remarkable things while struggling with years of mental illness. Her family urges anyone with similar struggles to seek help. The suicide hotline crisis number is 988.

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“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

Isaiah 54:10