OBITUARY - CRAIG M. MOORE

Submitted by: Jan Redelsperger, jansperger at gmail dot com

Source: "The Daily News," Longview, Cowlitz Co., Washington, 21 Nov 2004

FORMER SERGEANT DIES AT 70
By Amy M.E. Fischer

Craig M. Moore, a former police sergeant and trustee of the Lower Columbia
Amateur Radio Association, died Oct. 18 at his Longview home.  He was 70.

Moore, who graduated from R. A. Long High School in 1951, joined the Longview
police in 1957 and served for 20 years until a heart attack forced him to
retire.  He trained Brian Pedersen, who was a Longview Police officer before
becoming Cowlitz County Sheriff.  The two worked together for 12 years.  

Pedersen, 63, of Longview, recalls Moore as an intelligent man with an air of
controlled authority that could restore calm almost instantly to chaotic
situations.  The mere sight of his burly, imposing figure in the doorway could
stop a bar fight, said Sandi Moore, his wife of 46 years.

“When he got out of his vehicle, everyone usually calmed down right away and
shut their mouths,” said Pedersen.  But when it came to cases of human
suffering, “he was easy as a teddy bear,: Pedersen said, recounting the time he
saw Moore console a woman whose 17 year-old-son had died.

Moore had an ear for music, which Pedersen discovered when they were conducting
security runs, making sure businesses doors were locked.  If a church was left
open, Moore would play the organ until the pastor arrived to lock the church.

One night, Moore’s impromptu 2:30 a.m. performance of the rousing “American
Patrol” was heard by an entire neighborhood—while turning on the organ, he’d
accidentally flipped a switch for the speakers outside the church, said Sandi
Moore, 70.

Moore was well-known by ham radio operators around the world, who customarily
send each other cards as a record of their communication.  Moore had cards from
people in more than 300 countries, for which the FCC bestowed him many awards.

He learned ham radio codes while serving as a staff sergeant in the U. S. Army
in the 1950’s.  during the Korean War, he was stationed in Kenai, Alaska, where
he intercepted and decoded messages from the Russians.  Every Friday, he played
chess with a man in England using Morse Code.

In Longview, Moore helped found the Lower Columbia Amateur Radio Association.

Moore, who was born in Seattle on March 7, 1934 to James Moore and Helen (Mains)
Moore, is survived by his wife; two sons, John and Andrew Moore; his mother,
Helen Eals (formerly Helen Moore); and two granddaughters, Nicole Marie Moore
and Alexandra Helen Moore