Ruth Ellen Bell Moore passed away July 7, 2020 at the age of 80 of complications from Parkinson’s disease. She and her husband Cary were long-time Arlington residents, and members of First Presbyterian Church where Ruth was organist for several years.
Ruth was born in Houston but grew up in Fort Worth. One of the significant incidences of her long and full life was the devastating flood in downtown Fort Worth in 1949, which destroyed her family’s home and all of their possessions. Her family stayed with an uncle in New York who had a house they nicknamed “the Castle”. This place held special memories for Ruth throughout her life.
Upon moving back to FW after the flood, Ruth began taking piano lessons. By age 14, she began playing piano and organ for her church. At age 16, she graduated from Carter Riverside HS, and entered Texas Wesleyan College to study music education. She always had many fond memories of her TWC days, including meeting a fellow student named Cary Moore, whom she married in 1960. They had 3 daughters, Tina, Paula and Caryn, all of whom were involved in musical activities.
As a young mother, Ruth taught piano lessons and played organ for several churches. She and Cary built their own house in Arlington, while working, raising children, and church activities. Immediately after building their house in Arlington, Cary built a lake house for his parents on the weekends, with Ruth keeping the home fires burning – or at least keeping the kids from burning down their new house. She was very involved in Arlington Music Club and the SAI Music Fraternity for many years, holding several offices. She and Cary were music-lovers and frequent patrons of the Fort Worth Symphony. Ruth returned to education in 1981, teaching elementary music and ESL in Arlington ISD. She received a master’s degree from Texas Women’s University in 1991. In 1995, she received the great honor of being named AISD teacher of the year.
Ruth loved to travel. There were road trips to Colorado, Arizona, Vermont, New Mexico, Virginia, Maine, the Blue Ridge Mountains, many of those in their RV. While Cary was working in Taiwan, Ruth lived there for a year, teaching English. After her Taiwan adventure, she retired from education and she and Cary became world travelers. They had the great joy of visiting many places around the world including Europe, New Zealand, and Canada, but her favorite places were always Hawaii and Estes Park in Colorado.
Ruth was also an avid Texas Rangers fan – win, lose, rain or shine – with her preferred method listening to live games on an AM radio.
She is survived by her husband of almost 60 years, Cary Moore, children Tina Johnston, Paula Roeder and her husband Chuck, Caryn Getsinger and her husband Brett, eight grandchildren – Renea, Chris, Robert, Lauren, Colton, Matthew, Katy, and Ryan, and 3 great-grandchildren – Zoey, Finn and Harper.
Ruth was laid to rest at the DFW National Cemetery. A memorial service will be held in a few weeks after the threat of the coronavirus has passed, once it is safe to congregate once more.
In lieu of flowers, donations to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s are preferred, thank you.
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