Obituary

Barbara Moore, beloved mother, grandmother, sister, and teacher, passed away from natural causes on October 22, 2024 at the age of 90.

She was born in 1933 in Warrenton, Missouri to George and Alice Pate. As the daughter of a Missouri highway patrolman, she was frequently on the move throughout her childhood. She made lifelong friends wherever she lived. She graduated from Macon High School in 1951. She went on to attend Missouri Teacher’s College where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Social Sciences with a minor in theater in only 3 years. 3 days later, she married the love of her life, John “Jack” Moore.

She and Jack had their son John in Macon, and the family moved to Lee’s Summit 2 years later. She began teaching world history and speech courses while hosting debates and directing student plays at Lee’s Summit High School in 1957. In 1959, she took a 7-year hiatus to raise her newborn daughter Kathy. Afterwards, she resumed her career in teaching, this time in 8th-grade American history. She later exclaimed, “8th grade early American history is right where I belonged!” Her style was well-known for its use of photos she gathered of historical sites and stories she told to bring history alive.# She would take summer trips across the country to historical sites so that she could share photos and stories with her students to help her lessons come to life. Each year for example, she would order tea from the Davison Newman & Co. for her students and serve it in traditional fashion while they learned about the Boston Tea Party. Although students begrudgingly took the voluminous notes required for her class, they often kept them for later use in college and even passed them on to their children. Her lessons are fondly remembered by surviving former students to this day.

Alongside her teaching, she is also known for having started the school’s gifted program and directing student plays.

In lieu of flowers, the family request donations to Lee’s Summit Social Services or St. Joseph’s Indian School in Chamberlain, SD.

In her retirement, Barbara and Jack continued to journey the country’s famous historical sites, ultimately taking her across all 48 contiguous states. They celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary by touring England with her son John and his wife Sherrie. She and her daughter Kathy took multiple trips to both coasts. She and her husband celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2004. She also remained an active member of the community and volunteered at the First Presbyterian Church where she helped as a receptionist and began a grief support group following Jack’s death in 2005. Her love of country never wavered, even in the turbulent Vietnam era. One of her final acts was proudly casting an absentee ballot for the 2024 election and stressing the importance of voter participation.

Barbara is preceded in death by her husband John Moore and her brother William “Bill” Pate. She is survived by her sister Carolyn Pate, her children John Moore and Kathy Giangreco, and many cousins, nephews, nieces, and grandchildren. An open visitation will be held at Langsford Funeral Home on Tuesday, October 29th 5:30-7:00 pm. A funeral will be held in her memory at the First Presbyterian Church on Wednesday, October 30th, at 10:00 am with burial following at Lee’s Summit Cemetery.