Lorain Moore Cardenas

1935 - 2025

Lorain Moore Cardenas
January 6, 1935 - December 17, 2025
Lorain Frances Moore Cardenas, beloved mother, grandmother, educator, and world traveler, was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. She earned her degree at Our Lady of the Lake University and lived a life defined by learning, service, and kindness.
Lorain raised five children and built a meaningful career as a Social Worker for Sonoma County, California. After retiring, she returned to San Antonio, where she later taught ESL for NISD and went on to a new career with the U.S. D.O.D.'s Defense Language Institute, traveling and living around the world teaching English and helping establish language programs in allied countries. She retired from her second career at 75.
Lorain was smart, funny, and deeply compassionate. She loved her home, her yard, her dogs, and the ocean. Students and friends from many nations loved her deeply, remembering her as brilliant, patient, witty, and endlessly kind.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Harry James Moore and Emma Riedel Moore; her sisters, Harriett Plummer and Ann Cotugno; her children, James Stevens Cardenas and Noel Lorain Cardenas; and her granddaughter, Jessica Marie James.
She is survived by her children Mark Cardenas, Karen James (Michael Madison), Marie Cardenas, and John Cardenas; her grandchildren Michael Fincher, Jonathon Cardenas, Jami Wardlow (Mark Bradley), John James, Case Cardenas, Jeremiah Wardlow, and Calise Cardenas (Maggie Ruden); great grandchildren Julian, Piper, Esmae, Alexa and Gabriel, and numerous nieces and nephews.
A service will be held Saturday, January 17, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. at Mission Park South Funeral Home, 1700 S.E. Military Dr., San Antonio, TX 78214, with burial at San Jose Burial Park and a reception immediately following