Joe Moore

CARBONDALE -- Joe Allen Moore, 66, passed away quietly in his sleep at home Monday, May 30, 2011.

Joe died, as he always wanted to, in his antique bed that had belonged to his grandmother, and that had survived the 1937 Cairo flood.

Joe leaves his wife of 35 years, Debbie Moore; his daughter and son-in-law, Nicole and Jeff Davis and his precious granddaughter, Phoebe Marie, all of Carbondale.

Joe was born Nov. 25, 1944, in Harrisburg to the union of Joab and Mildred (Jones) Moore.

He attended Harrisburg schools, and was the second wheelchair-bound student to attend Southern Illinois University, graduating in 1967 with dual degrees in accounting and marketing. He really never left his alma mater, having spent 35 years in an accounting and business management career on campus. He spent most of that time as the business manager of the Student Health Program, but also worked in the offices of general accounting, the bursar's office and finally in the Department of Theater. Joe was active in numerous university organizations and committees and was an early community advocate for making Carbondale accessible to the handicapped. He worked closely with former Mayor and friend D. Blaney Miller on one of the earliest sidewalk beveling projects in the State. He also served on the Governor's Task Force for the Handicapped in the 1960s and '70s and attended meetings twice a month in Chicago, to ensure that Illinois was a frontrunner in handicapped accessibility legislation.

Early in Joe's career, he held membership and office in several organizations. He served as president of Carbondale Jaycees and was instrumental in the development of the ball park at Evergreen Terrace. He served as the Jaycees Regional President during the days of gas rationing in the early 1970s, and once found himself out of gas in a little Southern Illinois town, stranded for the night and slept in his car. He was a member of Carbondale Lions Club and spent his honeymoon entertaining fellow Lion's Club members answering annual Lion's Club Telethon phone calls in his home.

Joe's hobbies were many. In recent years, he adorned the necks of several Southern Illinois women with his hand-strung strands of pearls. He was an avid hunter and fisherman, and enjoyed target shooting in recent years. He loved to eat and to cook, and was famous among friends for his chili and one-pot German meals. He was known as a storyteller and delighted in sharing the stories of his lifetime spent in Southern Illinois.

Because of his grandfather Charley Jones' military accomplishments in the Spanish American War, Joe had an appointment to West Point Military Academy that he was unable to accept. At age 12, Joe was severely injured in an automobile accident that claimed the lives of several of his Sunday school classmates, his Sunday school teacher and the drunk driver that hit them head on as they were en route to a community festival. After two years in a rehab hospital, Joe was permanently paralyzed and confined to wheelchair. That did not, however, prevent him from living the life he wanted to live or asserting his general-like qualities. He was good at giving orders.

Joe Moore was preceded in death by his beloved mother; grandparents and his parents-in-law, Jim and Doris Raines of Murphysboro. He had a special bond with his father-in-law and, no doubt, joined him on a big Memorial Day heavenly fishing jaunt.

Services for Joe A. Moore will be at 1 p.m. Thursday, June 2, 2011, in Elm Street Baptist Church in Murphysboro, with the Rev. Charles Allen officiating. Visitation will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday at the church.

Memorials may be made to Williamson County Gun Club Youth Activities Fund, c/o Pettett Funeral Home, 1418 South St., Murphys-boro, IL 62966.

For more information, visit www.pettettfuneralhome.com.

Joe will be missed by his extended family of friends, former colleagues and a wide variety of nieces, nephew, their children and their grandchildren. He left his mark on this university community of scores of former student workers that he fed, loaned money, parented and sent off on careers all around the world. He was, indeed, one of a kind.