- Date Of Birth: September 6, 1942
- Date Of Death: November 4, 2022
- State: Idaho
Ronald (Ron) was born in Council, Idaho on September 6, 1942 and passed away in Boise, Idaho on November 4, 2022 at the age of 80. He was raised in McCall, Idaho by his parents, Jess and Maxine Moore. He has an older sister, Barbara. He graduated from McCall-Donnelly High School in 1960. He played trumpet in the band, and was on the football and basketball teams.
Upon graduation from high school, Ron enlisted in the US Navy and continued with his music by playing trumpet in the Drum and Bugle Corps.
While in the Navy, he attended Radioman “A” school and was stationed for 18 months in the Philippines. He returned to San Diego for Radioman “B” school and met the love of his life, Marlene, when out on a double-date. They only knew each other for a week when he asked her to marry him; and while it seemed crazy to others, they apparently knew it was meant to be. They were married on February 16, 1963. They had two daughters, Denise and Lavetra, while he was stationed throughout California. Ron proudly served aboard the USS Gurke (DD-783) and was deployed to the Gulf of Tonkin in 1963-64 during the initial bombing of Vietnam. As a Radioman 1st Class Petty Officer, his final duty station was in San Diego where he spent three years teaching radio communications to naval officers. Ron also maintained his amateur radio license throughout his life with the call sign WA7MPK.
Ron received an honorable discharge from the Navy in 1968 and they moved back to Ron’s home state of Idaho. He served two years with the Boise Police Department as a dispatcher and attended Boise Jr. College (now BSU) majoring in accounting and playing on the baseball team. In 1970, Ron began his career with the Idaho State Police as a radio dispatcher and spent many hours riding with several different officers.
He taught his daughters and grandchildren a love of the outdoors as well.
In retirement, he originally kept busy playing golf and also worked several years selling boats at Idaho Marine in Boise. After retirement, Ron and Marlene lived in Emmett, Meridian, and Nampa, Idaho.
Ron, never one to let a challenge go, taught himself how to play the mandolin and the fiddle, in addition to guitar. Ron served as Vice President of the Idaho Old Time Fiddlers Association for a time as well. Until the pandemic hit, they played weekly at various nursing homes in the Boise area and enjoyed bringing music in to others’ lives. Their old-time fiddle music adventures took them to Arizona over several years during the winter. They camped out in the desert, played in nightly jam sessions, and attended a variety of fiddle contests. Every summer for many years, they also attended the Fiddling-In-the-Pines Camp-out near Lowman and the National Old Time Fiddlers Contest in Weiser. Ron loved to perform for others and even competed in some of these events on his fiddle and would play his guitar as accompaniment when Marlene would play her fiddle in competitions too.
Ron was not ready to give up any of his outdoor or music adventures despite his official diagnosis with Lewy Body Dementia in 2020. He continued to try and get Denise and her husband Donnie to take him hunting up at Lick Creek near McCall and he encouraged Lavetra and her husband Del to learn to play the guitar. Although he didn’t have the physical stamina to climb mountains anymore, and his memory to recall beloved songs was in and out, he fought his diagnosis with every ounce of his spirit and could still make us laugh.
Ron’s battle with Lewy Body Dementia finally ended on November 4, 2022. Ron leaves behind his wife of 59 years, Marlene Moore; daughters, Denise King (Donnie) of Kuna, Idaho and Lavetra Morgan (Del) of Sittee River, Belize; granddaughter, Jessica Myers (Greg); and great-granddaughter, Danika Myers of Long Beach, California; grandson, Logan Castles of Denver, Colorado; Ron’s sister, Barbara Bernard of California and her family of, Kirby Bernard, Kyle Bernard, Charlotte Jolley, and all of their children and grandchildren; and his cousin, Paralee Gates of Sandpoint, Idaho and her family.
The family is especially thankful for the care and compassion Cascadia of Boise and Bluebird Hospice provided to them and Ron over his past few weeks of life.
“Blessed are the Peacemakers”
