Clinton "Leon" Moore

Leon Moore, 79 of Kansas City, MO, entered the gates of Heaven on Wednesday, February 19, 2025. He was under the care of Ascend Hospice and spent the last month of his life at The Gardens at Barry Road Assisted Living.
Leon is survived by his daughter Tamela (Mark) Debrick, grandchildren Jacob, Marissa (Dillon), and DeAnna. He also leaves behind three great-grandchildren, Riley, Johnny, and Willy, who he affectionately called "his little rugrats." He was preceded in death by his parents and both brothers.
Leon was born March 27, 1945 in Nevada, Missouri. At a very young age, he contracted polio. His parents were told he would never walk. However, not only did he walk, but he went on to become a state champion in pole vaulting in his high school years. He also once swam across the Mississippi River while living in Cape Girardeau, MO, just to "prove he could do it." There were many times in his life he did things just to "prove he could."
Leon spent most of his life in Missouri and graduated from North Kansas City High School. He married his precious wife, Pam, April 16, 1966. They had one child, Tammy. (He jokingly told everyone that she was enough because she was a handful)
Leon was a jack of all trades: woodworking, scroll saw work, and locksmithing to name a few. He also held an amateur radio license (he was WA0YIT in the early years and KC0IV later in life). With his ham radio license, he along with many others were able to assist victims of the terrible earthquake in Managua, Nicaragua in 1972. Leon also loved to fly private planes and had his private pilot's license for many years and would fly his wife and daughter from their home in Manhattan, KS to his parent's house in Nevada, MO or Pam's parents in Gladstone, MO for holidays.
Leon held many jobs throughout his life. He was twice a manager at Radio Shack (which his daughter feels led to his "addiction" of having a LOT of batteries on hand at any given time!). He also worked for GE X-Ray and Greb X-Ray where he installed and repaired x-ray and CT equipment all over the state of Kansas. He later worked at DeLaval and he, along with three co-workers, developed a collar system that read each milking cow's statistics for each milking session that has a patent on it.
In the 1990's, Leon decided to buy a tractor trailer and become an over the road driver. He delivered from coast to coast everything from fireworks to water. He was delivering
water to the victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and while sleeping, suffered a stroke. Due to the condition of Gulfport, MS, the family had a difficult time finding him and ended up having to pay to have him transported by air ambulance back to Kansas City. Anyone that knew Leon in the 20 years after his first stroke, has heard the story of his angel encounter while the family was trying to get help for him. He and his family know without a doubt that the man that suddenly appeared on his running board, and also spoke to his wife telling her "he's had a stroke, but he's going to be ok," was an angel. Because, just 30 seconds after the "man" spoke to his wife, paramedics arrived and told her that "there was no one there and no one had been there when they pulled up." And true to what he said, Leon was okay and didn't sustain much physical injury.
Leon was a very religious man and loved to talk about the Bible with anyone who would listen, whether they wanted to or not! He held non-denominational credentials and would hold Bible studies with soldiers at Fort Riley, KS when he lived briefly in Manhattan.
Leon had no fear of dying. Even though death tried so many times to take him (from polio as a child, to a car wreck into a frozen lake in his early 20's, four heart attacks, open heart surgery / quadruple bypass, four strokes, and falling off a tower when installing a radio antenna), he "kept on keeping on" as he told everyone. After his wife of 57 years gained her freedom from Alzheimer's and breast cancer on October 29, 2023, he wanted nothing more than to "go home and be with Mama." He entered into hospice care with Ascend Hospice (with the very team of staff who took care of his wife) in November 2023. His son-in-law always said that "once Pops finds that switch, he'll go join her." Leon found that switch on February 19, 2025, and while his family and friends know they will miss him tremendously? They are rejoicing that he has been reunited with his wife and is now sitting at the feet of the Jesus he loved to tell everyone about.
There will be a private service for the immediate family later this Spring at the family's property at Pomme de Terre Lake.