| Berneda Moore |
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| People | |||
| Written by Terrie Cole | |||
| Friday, 05 March 2010 09:00 | |||
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1915-2010 Berneda Leota Moore, 94, a longtime Paola resident, died March 1, 2010. She was born March 12, 1915, north of Ramona, Kan., the daughter of Dr. G.H. “Hank” and Mary Lillian Poe Kleopfer. She started her education at Rosebank School, a one-room school that included all eight grades, where they began each day with a flag salute and a morning prayer. In 1934, she graduated from Ramona High School, where she was a star basketball, volleyball and tennis player. She also played basketball on the Ramona city team. She married Francis Harold Moore of Martinsville, Mo., in 1936 at Hope Christian Church in Hope, Kan. In 1937, they settled near Jamison, Mo., to raise their four children. They moved to Gallatin, Mo., in 1943, to Winston, Mo., in 1946, and then to Plattsburg, Mo., before coming to Miami County in 1950. The Moores lived on a farm near Fontana, where the children attended school. Berneda and Francis divorced in 1954. After her children graduated high school, Berneda was lonely and living in a big house; that’s when she made the decision to run an adult care facility for homeless women. She cared for women for more than 25 years. Her community activities included serving as treasurer for the Gallatin Farm Bureau and having life memberships in the Tri-County Historical Society in Herington, Kan., and the Miami County Historical Society. She was superintendent and treasurer of Fontana Christian Church and a charter member of Osage Township Senior Citizens. She also worked on the election board for Osage Township for more than 25 years; served as chairman of the Miami County Area of Aging; was a member of the Harmony Club and the Miami County Hospital Auxiliary; was the Fontana correspondent for the Miami County Republic and the Osawatomie Graphic for more than 25 years; and was the 4-H community leader for the Osage Rustlers. She still found time to baby-sit her grandchildren and neighbors’ children. Preceding her in death were infant twin granddaughters; a grandson; half-brother Harvey Moore; half-sisters Eva Miller and Ruby Whited; brothers Harold, Newton and Milo Kleopfer; and sisters Ramona Kleopfer and Winifred Engle. Survivors include her sons, Leroy Moore and Bernard Moore; daughters Sharon Grother and Nina Diediker; brother Donald Kleopfer; nine grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren, and six step-great-grandchildren. Visitation will be from 10 to 11 a.m. at Penwell-Gabel Chapel, 305 N. Pearl St., Paola, KS 66071, (913) 294-2372. Services will follow at 11 a.m. Burial will be in the Paola Cemetery. Memorials may be made to Fontana Church of Christ or the Swan River Museum.
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