06/17/2023
My Dad - My Hero!
Because Father's Day falls in June, I wanted to honor my Dad in this newsletter. This picture of my dad, Gary Moore, taken a couple years before he passed away, shows him standing in front of the one room house where he was born in Auburn town, Tennessee in 1931.
In these humble beginnings his family etched out a very limited existence on a small farm. Eventually he joined the Army serving during the Korean War. He was always so proud of his country and his time in the military.
Dad became part of the huge migration from the South to find work in the booming economy driven by the automobile industry. He eventually got his engineering degree from Eastern Michigan University and worked for Ford Motor Company for 32 years. We were definitely a Ford family!
Two things about my Dad make him a real hero to me besides the fact that he was a man of great character and hard work, First, he was amazingly compassionate. He loved people and they knew it. He had a knack for great questions and a patient capacity for listening. He and my mom, Ella, oozed hospitality. Literally THOUSANDS of people came to our home in Romulus. Some came to live for a season. Others came for parties, Bible studies, family holidays, mentoring/counseling. Everyone was welcome!
The second reason my Dad is my hero is because of his great love for the Bible - God's Word to us. He loved God and the Bible was his life's manual. I remember early one morning walking past their bedroom and seeing my Dad kneeling before a chair with his head bowed in prayer with an open Bible before him. This was his normal routine, not a crisis intervention action.
Dad was a Gideon. If you have ever seen a Bible in your hotel room, it was put there by an organization called The Gideons International. This worldwide group raised money and distributed Bibles to hotels, nurses, college students and people entering the military. He served in the Gideons for decades because he knew the truth found in the Bible was the hope of the world.
Gary Moore left a lifetime legacy of love for God and compassion for people. He is a hero to me, my brothers and his children's children.