Loretta Moore

Loretta Lee Moore, 83, of Anchorage and Big Lake, died June 20, 2009 in Anchorage with her daughter, Vida Fish, at her side. A service will be from 10 to 11:30 a.m. today at Kehl's Legacy Funeral Home. A celebration of Lee's life will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at Valley of the Moon Park. Lee will be laid to rest with her husband, Joseph Miles Moore, at Fort Richardson National Cemetery. Pallbearers will be Orville Lamson, Bud Moore, Jim Fish, Shaun Sheahan, Joe Fish and Kris Erickson. Lee was born Feb. 20, 1926 in Fort Smith, Ark., and was raised on the banks of the Arkansas River. She married James Fish when she was 19 years old and moved to Arizona, where she raised three children. In 1964, she married the love of her life, Joseph Miles Moore and together they moved to Alaska. Lee and Miles were true soul mates and enjoyed picking berries, road trips and summers on the Beluga River. She never missed a yard sale sign and loved getting bargains. Her straightforward talk and sense of humor made all who knew her, love her. Her family wrote: "When she lost her husband in 1993, she lost half her heart and has been looking forward to the day she and he would be together again. We are all so happy for her now that they have been reunited in heaven." Lee is survived by her daughters, Vida Fish of Anchorage, Nancy Lamson of Big Lake and Vikkie Swafford of Anchorage; sons, James Fish of Anchorage and Eugene "Bud" Moore of Anchorage; 10 grandchildren; 23 great-grandchildren; and many nieces, nephews and friends. She was preceded in death by her husbands, James George Fish and Joseph Miles Moore; all of her siblings; her mother and father and many in-laws and dear friends. Arrangements are with Kehl's Legacy Funeral Home, www.alaskafuneralhomes.net.