Patricia Gail West Moore

Patricia Gail West Moore, beloved Daughter, Mom, Grandmom, and friend, passed away peacefully at 85 years on July 19, 2024, surrounded by family in her home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, after a short but valiant battle with cancer.

Gail was born in Woodward, Oklahoma on May 21, 1939, to Gladys Thelma Webb West and John Cooper West.

When her dad Cooper volunteered for World War II, five-year old Gail, her mom, and her two-year old brother Johnny followed him to Hollywood, Florida, for Naval Officer’s Candidate School, and then to Seattle, where he shipped out for three years of service in the Pacific Theater, including Iwo Jima and the Tokyo surrender. Gail had two aunts and six uncles, including five uncles who enlisted to serve in World War II and a sixth who stayed home to farm for the war effort.

Following her dad’s 1946 discharge as a Navy Lieutenant Junior Grade, the young family moved to Elk City, Oklahoma (1946 population approximately 6,000), and lived on Broadway, a lovely red brick street one block away from the famous Route 66. She had a great childhood with Johnny and her newly arrived sister Nancy. Gail played piano and was a Brownie and Girl Scout. Her Dad’s parents, Mary Cooper and “Dad” West, a Baptist preacher, would host large backyard receptions for their friends and family.

Gail loved visiting the University of Oklahoma, where her Uncle Stan was a Sooner All-American football star who would play in two Pro Bowls and win the 1951 NFL Championship with the Los Angeles Rams. Water ballet became popular with teens in the 1950’s and Gail enthusiastically joined a team, with brother Johnny often teasing her and her teammates from poolside. Gail graduated from Elk City High School, where she played drums in the Elks Marching Band, proudly wearing an elaborate uniform with gilded piping. Sister Nancy would later graduate as Valedictorian. Last August, Gail had a wonderful time attending her 66th reunion with the Elks Class of 1957 and then visiting the West family farm to see Johnny’s prized herd of longhorn cattle.

Gail started college at Arizona State University and then transferred to the University of Oklahoma, where she graduated in 1961 with a Bachelor in Science in Speech Therapy. An active member of Kappa Kappa Gamma, she loved living in the grand sorority house. Gail enjoyed sharing a car with brother Johnny, a fullback and guard who had won an OU football scholarship. Most importantly, at OU she met Fort Worth’s Donald Lee Moore, who she would marry in 1962 on New Year’s weekend.

Gail practiced as an elementary school speech therapist in Kansas when Don joined the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps and served as an air traffic controller at Fort Leonard Wood. In 1963, they moved to Houston, where Don joined Arthur Young as a Certified Public Accountant. In 1964 they had a son, Jeffrey Lee. In 1965 they had a daughter, Stacey Lynn. As Don’s career flourished, they moved in 1968 to Dallas and in 1977 to New Orleans, where Don became Managing Partner for Louisiana and Mississippi. They quickly embraced the people, music, dining, architecture, Mardi Gras, and joie de vivre of New Orleans, where they loved entertaining friends and countless houseguests.

Gail was an active volunteer with many community and cultural organizations, including Brownies and Girl Scouts, Indian Guides and Cub Scouts, March of Dimes, Overture to the Cultural Season, the New Orleans Museum of Art, and the New Orleans Ballet “Bravo” Association, where she served as President. She enjoyed many fun friend groups including “VAMPS”, for leading volunteers, and “Swing Fiesta”, a couples travel and golf group.

As Don’s career required international travel, Gail would join his trips to Europe and Asia. When Don retired from Ernst & Young, they continued to travel broadly. After growing up in a wonderful small town in “Dust Bowl” Western Oklahoma, where her grandparents had, after the Fort Worth Baptist Seminary, lived on an 80 acre homestead in a 16 x 20 foot wooden house, Gail fell hard for grand hotels. She especially loved Hong Kong, Singapore, New York, London, Paris, and, during Christmas, Vienna.

In February, Gail returned to New Orleans for her annual family week at Mardi Gras. She was overjoyed to share a special 2024 Carnival with dear friends of three generations. Just six weeks ago, Gail enjoyed a wonderful family visit to a favorite Washington, DC hotel.

Most people would not move to Manhattan for six months or Barcelona for a grandchild’s tennis camp, but Gail was always game for adventure. The world changed dramatically during her 85 years, and she would “grab her handbag and go”, excited to see all of it.

Gail was an accomplished Southern Lady and a devoted wife to Don for 57 years. With steely resolve, they steadfastly endured hardship, including losing homes in New Orleans to Hurricane Katrina and in Houston to Hurricane Harvey. A perfectionist, she renovated three gorgeous homes and found many new friendships after the hurricanes. When Gail and Don followed Stacey, Gary, and their twins to Chapel Hill after Katrina, the community warmly embraced her, even more after the loss of Don in 2019. Gail became an integral part of Stacey and Gary’s friend group, joining family celebrations and supporting their causes. Always called “Gigi” by her six grandchildren, to many in Chapel Hill, Gail also became their Gigi.

Family always came first, and Gail never missed the birth of a grandchild, a birthday, or any milestone, always cheering and celebrating. When Covid canceled the twins’ high school graduation, Gail hosted her own graduation on her gracious terrace overlooking the Chapel Hill Country Club golf course. Gail loved hosting any type of party and left no stone unturned. Her attention to detail was extraordinary, especially during Christmas, when she hosted a lavish, at times raucous, Christmas Eve party. One friend called her a “Grande Dame”.

A family member called Gail “the modern-day Emily Post”. Nothing was more important than exquisite manners, especially at the table. She also taught her grandchildren the value of a good education. A curious and enthusiastic questioner, she loved discussing business, the stock and bond markets, and natural gas prices. She loved her Saturday morning Wall Street Journal and Sunday morning “Meet the Press”. Eager to hear differing perspectives, she would switch back and forth between CNN and Fox News. She loved reading and her two book clubs, one liberal and one conservative!

Gail was preceded in death by her husband, Donald Lee Moore; her parents, Gladys Thelma Webb and John Cooper West; and her grandparents, Mary Cooper and Minister G. Roland West, and Effie and Oscar Webb.

Her survivors include her brother John Cooper West, Jr., sister Nancy Lou West Menees and her husband Gerald, and sister-in-law Pamela Harper Moore; her children, Jeffrey Lee Moore and wife Mary Susan Wiggins Moore of Locust Valley, NY, and Stacey Lynn Moore Towning and husband Gary Mark Towning of Chapel Hill; and her six grandchildren, Madeline Abigail and Isabella Lee Rainford Towning, and Sallie Bell, Mary Cooper, Jeffrey Lee, Jr., and Duke West Moore.

A funeral service will be held at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 24, 2024, at The Chapel of the Cross, at 304 East Franklin Street at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Reverend Elizabeth Marie Melchionna, Rector, and Reverend Keith Esposito, Curate, will officiate, followed by a New Orleans jazz celebration.

Instead of flowers, friends may make donations in Gail’s memory to New Orleans Ballet “Bravo” Association, The Chapel of the Cross, or Meals on Wheels of Chapel Hill or Elk City.

Gail’s family thanks her many wonderful friends, especially Dottie Stevenson, her dear friend of over fifty years. They also thank her dedicated care givers, especially her companion Amy Brunson, who selflessly and lovingly helped Gail and Don for many years.