DR. MAURICE LUCIEN "MOE" SILL

1925 - 2019

DR. MAURICE "MOE" LUCIEN SILL, 94, of Huntington, W.Va., reposed in the Lord on June 6, 2019. Maurice was born on June 4, 1925, in Follansbee, W.Va., to the late Webster Harrison Sill and Grace Clark Sill. He graduated from Parkersburg High School in 1942. Maurice received his BS from the University of Virginia in 1945, with majors in Naval Science, Tactics and Rural Social Economics. He received a MS (Rural Social Economics) in 1949, and a PhD (Rural Sociology) in 1958, both from Penn State University. He was a United States Navy veteran. He served in a rural church in Pennsylvania while getting his MS degree. In 1949, he and his family moved to India where he served as an agricultural missionary for 8 years (two terms). While there, he was instrumental in establishing the Agricultural Extension Service in India. He first served with the Ingraham Institute mission school development wing in an Indian village. He later served as a Rural Life Analyst with the Indian Government, and director of India Village Service. He later worked for the Peace Corps where he was the training officer for the first Peace Corps group to India. From 1961 – 1963, he served as the first director of the Peace Corps in Pakistan. He and his family returned to the United States in 1963. He continued to work with the Peace Corps in Washington, D.C., until 1964. Maurice then worked with the U.S. Poverty program from 1964 – 1971. He loved working with rural people. He retired from the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Marshall University in 1990. The land in Wayne County, W.Va., where Maurice and his wife, Nadya lived from 1975 to 1990 was gifted to the Hermitage of the Holy Cross. Maurice "Moe" was an adventurer, and he lived a very full life. One of his joys was piloting small airplanes. There are several airplane stories that speak of his sense of adventure. He loved his West Virginia roots, enjoyed the outdoors, and tending to his and Nadya's garden. He was very friendly and enjoyed getting to know people. If you were with him, you were the most important person in the world. He was greatly loved and will be missed by both family and friends. In addition to his parents, he is preceded in death by his wife Nadya Danilchik Sill and his first wife, Barbara Alice Struck West; sister Elaine Banning Davis and husband Dr. Sidney Thomas Davis; and brother Dr. Webster Harrison Sill II and wife Charlyn Alice Adams Sill. Survivors include his five children, Marilyn (Dean) Donald of Locke, N.Y., David (Kaye) Sill of Ithaca, N.Y., Kenneth Sill of Louisville, Ky., Margaret "Peggy" (Alan) Travis of Penn Yan, N.Y.; Elaine (Benjamin) Pearson of Nashville, Tenn.; 16 grandchildren, and 20 great-grandchildren. Also surviving are his godsons Dr. Brendon Thompson, Dr. Rupert Hay, Joseph Hay and David Hay. Visitation will be from 4 to 6:30 p.m., Thursday, June 13, 2019, at Morris Funeral Home, 79 Bridge Street, Wayne, WV. A Pannikhida service (prayer service for the departed) will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 13, at Christ the Savior Orthodox Christian Church, 6378 Rt. 152, Wayne, WV. A reading of the psalter will follow from 8 p.m. to 10 a.m. at the church. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m., Friday, June 14, at Christ the Savior Orthodox Christian Church, Wayne, with Father Jonah Campbell officiating. Burial will follow at the Hermitage of the Holy Cross Cemetery, 505 Holy Cross Road, Wayne. Following the burial, a reception will be held at Holy Spirit Orthodox Church, 1 Wood Haven Drive, Huntington, W.Va. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Christ the Savior Orthodox Christian Church, P.O. Box 188, Wayne, WV 25570; Hermitage of the Holy Cross, 505 Holy Cross Rd., Wayne, WV 25570 or a charity of your choice in Maurice's memory. Morris Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.