Memorial Services scheduled for 10:00 AM Tuesday, July 17, 2018 at Cherrywood Village Chapel, 1417 SE 107th Ave, Portland, OR 97216. Click here for directions. 

John Chester Moore was born in December, in Toppenish, Washington. His family moved to southeast Portland where Jack attended Lent School and Benson High School.

Jack joined the Army Air Corps when he was 17, and served on a bomber crew in Italy and North Africa in WWII, eventually attaining the rank of staff sergeant. When he returned in 1946, he enrolled at OSU on the G.I. bill.  He met his future wife, Phyllis, at an Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship meeting and they began dating the following summer. Engagement and marriage soon followed: they were married in the United Presbyterian Church in Albany on August 17, 1947.

In September of 1947, they drove in “Bessie,” (a ’38 Pontiac) back to Greenville, S.C., where dad spent 3 ½ years at Bob Jones University.

Daughters Caroline and Nancy were born there; all drove back to Oregon in 1951 and lived in various places around Portland (most memorable of which was in the same house where Ken Taylor—author of The Living Bible—was born). Son John was born in 1953.  The family bought a house and settled for good in SE Portland.  Evangel Baptist was an important part of the family’s spiritual and social life. Many friends from Evangel are still connected to our family and we treasure them.

Jack’s career with the U.S. Postal Service suited his personality perfectly. He loved walking the neighborhoods and meeting and talking with his customers. Eventually, he got a plum job delivering mail in an office building at the Lloyd Center. But he and Mom kept walking into their twilight years, only stopping when Dad’s legs couldn’t carry him anymore.

After the kids left home, they bought a “farmette” in Gresham where they could grow a large vegetable garden, view Mt. Hood (Mom’s requirement) and entertain the kids and grandkids, leading to many fond memories of playing in the creek, climbing the stile, and gathering the neighbors’ eggs. Grandpa Jack always found a way to entertain the kids. Family trips to the Metolius River (begun in the 1950s) continued to bring pleasure to all of us for many years, even after Dad couldn’t walk unassisted. They both adored the river and high desert landscape.

They scaled back to a smaller home and yard but Dad kept active, volunteering at Mt. Hood Medical Center, and compiling the newsletter for their church, Wood Village Baptist. In 2004, they moved to Cherrywood Village, where they remained until Mom’s death in September, 2016. Jack moved to a foster home in the fall of 2017, where Elena and Steve cared for him until his death on Thursday, June 28, 2018.

Jack loved the Lord , his wife, his children and grandchildren, and coffee (sometimes coffee came earlier in the order). He never gave money to panhandlers, instead offering to buy them a coffee. If they accepted, he would pay for their coffee and take the time to drink a cup himself with them. Being a consummate handyman, he always looked for a way to help when he visited his adult children’s homes, tightening doorknobs, fixing cars, and repairing all manner of broken stuff.

Jack was ill for just two weeks before he succumbed to pneumonia at home, with his three kids by his side.  Elena provided gentle, empathetic, hands-on care to him as he weakened and slipped away. We thank her and Steve for their loving care. Jack is survived by children Caroline, Nancy, John (Missy), grandchildren Joel (Katherine), Adam (Dulce), Cogan (Hasti), Ryan, Naomi (Chad), Colin, and Monica. He had 3 great-grandchildren and one on the way.

A memorial service will be held at the Cherrywood Village chapel on Tuesday, July 17 at 10:00am. Coffee will follow.

In lieu of flowers, please send a donation to the Union Gospel Mission. Dad volunteered there many times and now his grandson Adam is employed by the Mission.

https://ugmportland.org/donate-2