OBITUARY: Margaret Louise (Shelton) Moore

Margaret Louise (Shelton) Moore, 89, passed away at 10:47 a.m. Friday, Nov. 14, 2014 at Harrisburg Medical Center.

Margaret was born June 30, 1925, in Louisville, Ky., to Clarence Sr. and Era Viola (Netherland) Shelton. She married James Fredrick Moore on Oct. 28, 1944, in New Orleans, La., at the Church of Christ at 7th and Camp streets by Frank McMullins. Together they shared 70-plus wonderful years. They enjoyed and had a great journey.

Margaret graduated from Cairo High School in Cairo. She earned a BS, Masters, and PH.D from SIU Carbondale. She retired from Harrisburg School System on June 1, 1994. She also was a part-time instructor in SIU-C.

She and her husband, Fred, with grandchildren and elderly parents traveled all 50 states, all Canadian provinces, most Mexican states, Europe, China, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji Islands and South America.

Margaret was a member of the First Baptist Church of Harrisburg, Daughters of the American Revolution and served non-profit organizations to help others. She was a 4-H and Girl Scout leader. Each year she had 4-H members going to the Illinois State Fair and doing very well.

Margaret was highly competitive all her life. In Mississippi while attending public schools she participated in girls track teams and at one time held the state records for broad jumping and one of the short track races. As an employee of the Harrisburg Public Schools she was able to secure a cable TV channel for the school at no cost to the school. This would not have been possible without the strong support of Mayor Ron Morse. She secured the Texas Tie-in Distant Learning Program at no cost to the school. This was 15 years in the making and not possible without support from U.S. Senator Ed Kennedy. She had input on the location of the libraries at the East Side and West Side Elementary Schools. This would not have been possible without the leadership and support of Jack Simmons and the board. She also was involved with moving the Public Library from Church Street to its present location and updating the library from a collection of books to its facility including computers, children's area and up to date services. This modification would not have been possible without the leadership and drive of Alice Barnes.

Margaret and Fred are the proudest of their achievements of their children, Forrest, Marsha and Cheryl. They are good outstanding, self-supporting American citizens.

Margaret is survived by her husband; son, Forrest (Elizabeth) Moore of Fincastle, Va.; daughters, Marsha (Al) Cole of Glen St. Mary, Fla., Cheryl (Mark) Bradley of Collinsville; 5 grandchildren; 6 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents.

Friends may call 11 a.m. to noon Thursday, Nov. 20, 2014, at Crain Funeral Home in Cairo. Interment will follow at 12:30 p.m. at Mound City National Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Elementary School Libraries in c/o of the Harrisburg School Superintendent.