James Earl Moody

October 4, 1940 - December 8, 2023 (age 83)

Funeral Services for James Moody will be at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, December 27, 2023, at Crawford-Bowers Funeral Home in Killeen, Texas. Burial, with full military honors, will be at 1:00 PM at Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery. A visitation will be held Tuesday, Dec 26,2023, from 5:00-7:00 PM.

James Earl Moody, a proud retired veteran of the United States Army and longtime resident of Killeen, Texas, passed away suddenly on December 8, 2023. Jim, as he was known to many, was born on October 4, 1940, in San Antonio, Texas to Walter Austin Moody and Bessie Thelma Carrigan Moody. He had two brothers and three sisters. The family mainly lived in San Antonio but spent a short time in Michigan. Jim attended and graduated from South San Antonio High School where he worked on his art and played the French horn in the band.

In the early 1960s he took a facial makeup course at the local college studying special effects. He often scared family and friends when they answered the door to find his face made up to look like a monster. Before joining the military, Jim worked in construction, laid carpet, and worked in the oil fields. Jim was a phenomenal cook! His father was a cook for the Army and scaled down his recipes and taught them to Jim. Jim’s signature dishes included several breakfast selections and his tasty enchiladas!

During his 20-year career in the military, Jim served in the MI (Military Intelligence) at various locations including Germany, Korea, Cambodia, Israel, and two tours in Vietnam. While working in this military discipline, Jim used information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. Throughout the years, he always had amazing stories of his experiences. The U.S. Army recognized Jim for his honorable service with several commendations to include his Vietnam Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, Bronze Star Medal, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry Medal.

In Germany, during Fasching in 1960, Jim attended the carnival with a German friend. He saw a beautiful young lady in the crowd enjoying the music and asked her to dance. After dancing all night and saying their goodbyes, Jim told his German friend that he had met the woman he was going to marry but soon realized that he forgot to get her name and telephone number. Fortunately, his German friend knew her and told Jim that he would officially introduce them. After finding out her name was Waltraud, he asked her out on an official date. When he saw her at the other end of the crowded train station, he began waving his arm and shouting “Weisskraut” at the top of his lungs. Weisskraut in German means white cabbage. Needless to say, Waltraud told him to call her Wallie instead. The rest, as they say, is history! Jim dated Wallie for a few years and was quite nervous when he asked her stepfather, Rudi Cech, for her hand in marriage. The couple was married by the Justice of the Peace on Friday, March 1, 1963, and in church at St. Heddwigs Kapelle in Oberursel/Ts. on Saturday, March 2, 1963.

Shortly after the wedding, the couple moved to Baltimore, Maryland. A couple of years later they welcomed their daughter, Jacqueline Dawn Moody, into the world on February 9, 1965.

When Jacqueline was ten days old, Jim had to leave for Korea at which time Wallie took their daughter and headed back to Germany. The next 12 years, Wallie mainly spent in Germany with her family as Jim had two tours in Vietnam as well as German duty stations in between tours in Munich, Camp King, and Fischstein. The family briefly lived in Fort Huachuca, Arizona for six months in 1970.

The Moody family arrived in Fort Hood, Texas on Wallie’s birthday, June 8, 1977. They settled in Killeen and made it their permanent home after Jim retired from the military. Following his military retirement, Jim served 28 years as a civil servant to the U.S. Government as an illustrator at the III Corps and Fort Hood headquarters building. Working at Fort Hood in this capacity, Jim was responsible for the majority of the post artwork including much of the Phantom Warrior illustrations and caricatures of all staff that was transferred or retired.

Jim loved to paint and was an extremely talented artist! He painted beautiful landscapes, portraits, cowboys and horses, copies of Rembrandt’s Man in the Golden Helmet, and several copies of Carl Spitzweg’s art. He loved working on his model railroad which took up the entire two car garage. He worked with both N Scale and HO Scale trains. The local news from Killeen, Copperas Cove, and Temple interviewed him on television several times about this hobby. Jim, along with some friends, founded the Temple Model Railroad Club which they named Centra Mod Train Club. He even had the old train depot in Moody, Texas moved to Temple to serve as their clubhouse.

He loved going to Las Vegas and Shreveport to visit the casinos, especially with his gambling buddy, his mother-in-Law Erna Cech. He enjoyed playing pinochle, bowling, collecting model cars, watching John Wayne and Audie Murphy movies, and relaxing in the pool with family and friends. He was a staunch Cowboys fan! One of Jim’s proudest moments was when Wallie became a U.S. citizen on December 18, 1986. He talked about that moment often.

He showed strength and courage when needed but always loved unconditionally and left everyone with a smile on their face.

James Moody is survived by his daughter, Jacqueline Dawn Moody of Arlington, Texas, his sister Wanda Dell Moody Searle of Von Ormy, Texas, his brother Leroy Odell Moody of Gonzales, Texas, his sister Patricia Moody Wilkinson of Sevierville, Tennessee, and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his wife, Waltraud Elizabeth Krah Moody, his father Walter Austin Moody, his mother Bessie Thelma Carrigan Moody, his siblings Shirley Marie Moody and Austin Ray Moody, and his mother-in-law Erna Cech.

Jim loved children and animals. In lieu of flowers to the family, please consider donating in his name to St. Jude’s or the SPCA.