Wilma "Billie" Moore

Wilma "Billie" Moore, 80, of Hollywood, Florida passed away on April 5th, 2011 at Presidential Place. A Memorial Service for Billie will be held at 12 noon on Saturday, May 21, 2011 at Calvary United Methodist Church, 3505 Vestal Parkway East, Vestal, NY, 13850. Later that afternoon, at 1:30 PM, there will be a luncheon to celebrate her life at the Vestal American Legion, 118 S Jensen Road, Vestal, NY 13850. All are welcome. Billie's final resting place will be next to her husband, Harold Moore, in Vestal, NY. The family believes Wilma would prefer anyone wishing to send flowers to make a donation on her behalf either to the Humane Society of the United States at www.humanesociety.org to help rescue animals or to the American Cancer Society at www.cancer.org to help families living with cancer. Thank you so much! To sign the virtual guestbook please click on the sign guestbook button. To share a memory/story please click on the Life Stories button. To upload a picture please click on the photo gallery button. BILLIE'S STORY She was known by many names: Wilma, Billie, Mrs. Moore, Aunt Billie, Grandma Moore, “the Shady Ol' Lady”. Of course, my siblings and I simply knew her as Mom. But however you knew her, if you knew her, it was clear that she was truly a remarkable and one of a kind lady. She was born in Moosic, Pennsylvania on August 28, 1930. Her father, William Robert Dick, died in a swimming accident one month prior to her birth, so her mother, Martha, named her Wilma Roberta after her late husband. It's challenging for any single mother with a newborn, but especially challenging when you lose your husband during the Great Depression. Not having the support she needed in Pennsylvania, Martha decided to move home to the family farm in Wisconsin where she grew up. Talk about brave and adventurous! In the 1930's, when there were no multi-lane Interstates or cell phones, not many new mothers would drive a baby in a Model A Ford all the way from Pennsylvania to Wisconsin. It's easy to see where Wilma got her courage and sense of adventure. Things did not work out well for Martha and Wilma in Wisconsin. Having a new baby around proved to be a bit too much for Martha's parents, so after about a year, Martha packed up little Wilma again, this time heading for one of her favorite places - NEW YORK CITY! Martha had made some friends and great memories in New York when she and William lived there. She asked one of her friends if she and Wilma could live with her for a while, and she agreed. Martha worked in a bakery during the day while her friend looked after little Wilma when she wasn't in school or taking ballet lessons. (Wilma loved her dance class and enjoyed dancing her entire life!) This worked for about 5 years, but life with a toddler in the City did not hold the same charm as Martha remembered with her husband. Discovering that New York City was not the best place to raise a child, Martha began looking for other opportunities. That's when she learned from another friend in Johnson City, a little town in upstate New York, that Endicott Johnson Shoes was hiring factory workers It sounded like just the opportunity and place she was looking for, so off they went. It's no wonder Wilma loved to travel. The ?rst part of her life was spent on the road! In Johnson City, events were starting to line up so that Wilma's life would ?nally become a little more stable. It was in second grade when Wilma met Mathilda Carlson. The two girls became fast friends and soon learned that they had a lot in common. Both were born in August, both had single parents of Scandinavian descent, and both lived at opposite ends of Cherry Street in Johnson City. Even their nicknames rhymed: Billie and Tillie. Then, 2 years later, something happened that would change both of their lives forever. Tillie had her tonsils out. When she returned from the hospital, Martha stopped by to bring her daughter's best friend a treat. Tillie's father, John Carlson, heard about Martha's kindness, and decided to walk up the street to thank her. A simple act of kindness and a simple act of gratitude apparently were the catalysts for some kind of chemistry, because John eventually asked Martha to marry him. The two families united and the girls went from being best friends to being sisters!Both girls matured into beautiful young ladies. Billie became quite the social butter?y, and very much enjoyed the attention she received from the opposite sex. During high school, she worked in a soda shop as a waitress, where I'm sure she perfected the art of ?irting. (Was it a coincidence that students at her high school were called the Johnson City Wildcats?) After high school, Billie took a job as a dental assistant. It was during that time that she caught the attention of Harold Moore, a handsome young man from the neighboring town of Vestal. He must have been something special, because she eventually stopped dating the other boys and married him on January 26, 1952. Billie and Hal, as his friends called him, settled in Vestal, NY where they started a family. Sadly, their ?rst son, William, was born very prematurely, and did not survive. Never one to give up (hence another of her nicknames “The Unsinkable Billie Moore”), Billie went on to have 5 more children whom she loved dearly. Ken, Laura, Judy, and Gail came along ?rst, and then I came along quite unexpectedly 7 years later. My sibling's names were all picked by Hal, but Billie named me John, after her stepfather. Hal was strict, but Billie was lenient. My siblings tell me she would let them stay up a little later to watch their favorite TV shows when Hal wasn't home to enforce the 7:30PM bedtime. Hal made a modest salary at IBM, so Billie had to feed and clothe 5 kids with a limited budget. One way Billie stretched her dollar was by sewing Easter, Christmas and even prom dresses for the girls instead of buying them. Of course, these dresses often made their way down the line from Laura to Judy to Gail, as evidenced in the Moore family home movies. Every week, Hal gave Billie an allowance for groceries and a separate allowance for her personal expenses. Billie often used her personal allowance to buy things for her kids. There was always something they “needed” that she couldn't deny them. For example, she had to buy Oreo cookies, even though Hal told her to buy the cheaper Hydrox brand for the kids' lunches. (Which they hated!) Billie couldn't do it, so she would buy both brands. Guess who got the Hydrox and who got the Oreos? The seeds had been planted for her to become “the Shady Ol' Lady!” Billie spent countless hours helping her kids with their homework, reports, and school projects, often doing more than just “helping.” In early years, she was a room mother for the kid's elementary school classrooms, making cookies and cupcakes for holiday parties and chaperoning school ?eld trips. How she found time and energy to cook, clean, do laundry, grocery shop, and do everything else she did for 5 kids was truly a testament to what an amazing mother she was. Tough times struck Billie again when Hal was diagnosed with cancer in the early 70's. She took a job cleaning of?ces at Willow Run Foods, a local food distributor, to help pay for the medical costs and the many trips back and forth to Buffalo, NY for his treatments. They did the best they could for Hal, but eventually he passed away on January 1, 1975 at the age of forty-?ve. New Year's Day was never a happy time for Billie after that. It must have been her strength, sense of humor, and love for her children that kept her going that year. Showing true wisdom, Billie took her kids to Florida that ?rst Christmas after Hal's passing. She wanted the family to have a happy Christmas and not be stuck in a sad house without their father. What a memorable road trip that turned out to be! It begs the question, who had more courage? Martha traveling to Wisconsin in the 1930's with a baby, or Billie traveling to Florida in the 1970's with a college boy, 3 teenage girls, and an 8 year old boy? Wow! Well, everyone survived that trip, and the kids eventually left the house on 220 Alice Street to start their own lives. Billie kept busy working a variety of jobs to help make ends meet. At Willow Run, her people skills and sense of humor helped her work her way up to a position as a customer service representative where she stayed for several years. Other jobs included working at the deli and bakery at Wegman's grocery store, creating fruit and deli platters at Serv-rite, serving up food and laughter to college kids at Binghamton University's student union, and greeting and seating guests at Old Country Buffet. Oh, those lucky unsuspecting customers who were greeted by those sparkling eyes, warm smile, and quick wit! One of those unsuspecting customers was a manager at Red Lobster. He succumbed to Billie's charms when he met her, and stole her for his own restaurant. She loved hosting at Red Lobster, but loyal Billie still worked a sixth day at Old Country Buffet for quite a while until the heavy lifting she had to do there became too much for her. That wasn't the only thing that became too much for her. The cold New York winters and large 5 bedroom house eventually did the same, so Billie sold the house where she had lived for over 40 years and moved to sunny South Florida in 2005. Starting a new chapter is scary at any age, but brave Billie did it at age 74. She arrived on May 1, and it was truly a “May Day! May Day!” for Florida. Just a few months later in November of that same year, a storm named Hurricane Wilma barreled through South Florida causing more destruction and power outages than Florida had seen in years. TWO powerful Wilma's made their presence known in the Sunshine State that year. Billie loved many things. She loved reading, especially mystery and history novels, as well as a good Danielle Steele romance. She loved ?owers and puttering around in her garden. She loved baking goodies for people, and of course, saving some to satisfy her own sweet tooth. Her other favorite sweets were chocolate covered cherries, Kit Kats, and French Crullers from Dunkin' Donuts. Billie was a crafty one, in both senses of the word. She loved to ?re up the hot glue gun and make beautiful holiday wreaths with pine cones she collected, assorted nuts and decorative berries. She gave many away as gifts. It also brought her great joy to buy gifts for people that she just knew they would love. Billie loved to give gifts, and she loved to get them too! Who could forget the look on her face when she opened her beloved complete box set of the television mini-series “Centennial”? I know I won't. Billie loved all animals, especially cats. She would often remark how she could not understand how anyone could be cruel to an animal. Many cats came into her life over the years: Spooky, Little Kitty, Cleo, Ebby, Koko, and Sugar to name a few. She must be so happy to be with her beloved kitty cats again.At the top of the list of things she loved would most de?nitely be her grandchildren:Spencer, Andrew, Tyler, Trevor, and Krista. She was so proud of all of them. Grandma Moore loved playing jokes on them and teasing them, and loved it more when they teased her back. Just this February, she became a great grandmother, with the arrival of little Genevieve. She was so excited prior to her arrival that she would often dream about it and say in her dream the event was surrounded by great joy. Although she never got to meet “Baby V” in person, we know she will be watching over her and surrounding her with joy, love, and grace. No list of things Billie loved would be complete without mentioning her love of coffee and cigarettes. It was her favorite breakfast combo and after dinner mint. Her ever present cigarette was often prominently featured and celebrated in the Moore family home movies. Strong winds on the beach. No smoking signs. Oxygen tanks in her room. None of these would deter her from lighting up a cigarette were she so inclined. At a restaurant she once said, “I'm going outside to get some fresh air and have a cigarette, honey.” Clearly to her, cigarette smoke was fresh air. She always tried to be respectful, but never apologized for enjoying her cigarette with a “nice cup of coffee.” Funny stories about Billie could probably ?ll a book, and someday maybe they will. You didn't have to know her long to have a funny story about her. Feel free to share yours on this website. Billie could make a joke about any of life's challenges, and that was one of her greatest strengths. One never knew what was going to come out of her mouth next. Just ask the stunned nurse that was running down her list of usual questions, recently. “How are you eating?” “How are you sleeping?”, etc. Billie replied, “I wish you people would come up with some new questions. I'm getting really bored with those.” On May Day, 2005, I was not able to pick Billie up at the airport, so I asked my friend to pick her up for me. He had never met Billie, so he asked her to send a picture of herself so he would be able to ?nd her. True to form, Billie complied by sending a picture of the very pretty country singer, Leanne Womack, one that she had cut out of a magazine. Well, she must have looked a lot like Leanne that day because my friend found her. Or maybe he spotted the woman with coffee spilled down her shirt carrying a cat in a pet carrier, and knew it must be Billie! And who can forget Billie's costume of Halloween 2009? What 79 year old doesn't want to dress up like a gorilla and pass out bananas for Halloween? But not just any gorilla. A lady gorilla with earrings, lipstick, pink ?ower on her head, pink tutu and a bright red brassiere! “Bubbles” was a hit wherever she went, and so was Billie. Not only was she a “great” grandmother, Billie was a great mother, sister, daughter, wife, friend, and human being. Her love and laughter will live in our hearts forever as we share stories and memories of this truly remarkable and one of kind lady. Thank you, Mom, for all the gifts you gave, sacri?ces you made, and blessings you continue to bestow upon us. May you know how much you are LOVED and how much you will be missed... Savino Weissman Funeral Home & Cremation Services is entrusted with funeral arrangements. We are located directly across the street from Northwest Medical Center on 441 south of Sample Road, 2950 North State Road 7 Margate, Fl 33063, 954.977.5244, www.savinofuneralhome.com, www.weissmanfuneralhome.com.

Wilma "Billie" Moore

August 28, 1930 - April 5, 2011