Henrietta Moore Obituary

Looking through the photos is such a joy, it brings tears to see how Aunt Henny resembles each of her five children. I can hear her wild and charming laugh, especially at the cocktail hour wherever the grownups gathered. We grew up together in Charlevoix and Winnetka - the Moores, the Boals, and the Fowles. We played so hard together and when it came time to learn to think for ourselves, at first my father was my example as he loved Stevenson, unlike the rest of the parents in the clan. But in the sixties Aunt Henny's head was "turned" by Phil's Mississippi experience. After that she proved to be the most active and up-to-date one, way out ahead with her very progressive ideas. I really did not realize how much until seeing her obituary. That she was responsible for bringing MLK to the Winnetka Village Green blows me away. It's such a huge moment in the history of Winnetka. She was so persistent, dedicated, and motivated to use her resources for the common good. Aunt Henny proved to be a wonderful example to us all. And she seemed to always be having fun doing exactly what she wanted to do!

I'm grateful to have been a part of the creative life she made for everyone around her.

Susan Rankin

Here is the text and link to a featured obituary on Henny in the 3/24/09 issue of the Chicago Sun-Times. The hardcopy version includes a photo of Henny holding an enormous fish she caught in Lake Charlevoix, but the online version omits the photo.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/obituaries/1492124,CST-NWS-xmoore24.article

Henrietta Boal Moore: Pioneering Winnetka rights activist
1915-2009 | Went against the grain to fight for range of issues, hosted King, Hoffman

March 24, 2009

BY LARRY FINLEY Staff Reporter [email protected]

The guest lists at Henrietta Boal Moore's Winnetka home during the 1960s and 1970s included such prominent names as Chicago 7 defendants Abbie Hoffman and David Dellinger and civil rights leader Julian Bond.

Mrs. Moore, the descendant of one of Winnetka's pioneer families, was a founder of the Winnetka Commission on Human Rights and an officer in the American Friends Service Organization and the Urban League.

Her daughter Ayrie Moore recalled how, in 1965, "She had Dr. Martin Luther King come out and speak in the Winnetka village green. Winnetka was hardly a breeding ground for activism. She was often accused of betraying 'her class' and all that. All her life, she supported the underdog. She wasn't afraid to take a stand."

Mrs. Moore, 93, died March 12 at her daughter's Chicago home of complications from Alzheimer's disease. Part of a family whose roots here date to the mid-1800s, Mrs. Moore was an activist for fair housing, civil rights, women's rights, universal health care and the Gray Panthers senior activists. She was also an anti-war activist.

"We periodically got threats at our house," her daughter said. "My mother used to say that she was going to sell her house to Dr. King."

When the Chicago 7 defendants went on trial after the 1968 Democratic National Convention riots, Mrs. Moore opened her home to Dellinger.

"I remember when David Dellinger stayed there," said her daughter. "They all showed up. I remember arguing women's rights with Abbie Hoffman in my mother's living room. Before that, my brother was active in the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project, and she hosted various people during that time."

Diane Horwitz was another volunteer in Mississippi and got to know Mrs. Moore after she returned.

"I was invited to address a meeting at her house,'' Horwitz said. "Then, during the 1968 Democratic convention, Julian Bond stayed at her house. I went to the airport to pick him up. Here's this upper-class, white woman from Winnetka, deeply involved in civil rights."

Mrs. Moore had a talent for melding with groups of any age or race, Horwitz said.
Dr. Quentin Young said Mrs. Moore was a part of the Committee to Save Cook County Hospital in the late 1950s and 1960s. "She was a valuable member of the health care movement of the day supporting Cook County Hospital," said Young, chairman of medicine at the hospital from 1972 until 1981.

Mrs. Moore was born in Winnetka on Dec. 8, 1915. She graduated from North Shore Country Day School in 1933 and from Vassar College in 1937. She later attended the University of Chicago. In 1938, she married Chicago businessman Philip Wyat Moore Jr. After he died in 1954, she took over his business, Alert Office Service, and raised five children.

In the 1970s, she was head of the Chicago Gray Panthers, a member of the Older Women's League and a participant in the White House Conference on Older Women in 1980. At 75, she moved to rural Maine, where she became active in housing issues.

Other survivors include two sons, Phil and Tom; daughters Lucy and Lesley; eight grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Services have been held.

I just wanted to say how sorry I am at your Mom's passing. I had no idea of her progressive activism and I want you to know I'm proud to have called all of you neighbors. Thank you!

The last time i saw my Aunt Henny was in Orland, at H.O.M.E. Les had asked me if I would come to the house about 9:30 and take Henny to the annual H.O.M.E. summer fair. It would help her, if Henny could get there a bit later.

I arrived at the door and yelled,"Hello", and got back a cheery, "I'll be right down." I introduced myself, read the instructions that Les had left on the yellow pad and we got ready to go in my car to the fair. Great bustling to and fro with Henny asking several times, "Where are we going?" Her reply to me was always full of great cheer and enthusiasm, "Oh, yes, of course, of course."

I was closing the door behind us when she said, "Who are you?" This cheery, trusting, totally upbeat person was going, who knew where with a stranger, to have an absolutely wonderful day. I carry that image of joyful trust in my heart .

Of course, we did have a wonderful day. Everyone greeted her with delight. We got a chair massage together. (My instructions were never to let go of her hand) The massage woman was in disbelief at Henny's age, because her muscles were so toned. "Swimming in the pond", Les told me.

We ate a picnic; went on a wagon ride; sorted through rummage at the sale - - All with total equanimity and pleasure at what the day brought. What an amazing gift you gave me that day, Henny. Thank you.

I have wonderful memories of Aunt Henny with her delightful smile. In fact, it always seemed to me that it was a bit of a wicked grin with a glint of naughtiness in her eyes. She was always ready with have a laugh. I also felt that she always had her finger in whatever pot was interesting and perhaps provocative and certainly political. I guess I think of her involvement in the Gray Panthers as part of that. Also, I know she was a very important part of my mother's growing up. They were the best of friends. Aunt Henny was my mother Laurie's maid of honor way back there in 1935. I'm glad to hear about your gathering at Ayrie's with all (almost) of her family and so many friends. I wish I could have been there with you.

Henny was an inspiration,a dynamo,and a warm and caring presence. She remained
one of my husband Frank Fowle's (her late nephew) most favorite aunts/relatives because of her pervasive intellectual curiosity, inherent interest in everyone she met, and her genuine kindness and spark. She was 1000% genuine! One could not meet Henny without having been touched by her in some wonderful way--her work with the Grey Panthers and her presence as the "chairperson" of a great and wonderful "brood" of children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren are inspiration enough, but are just part of the whole of her accomplishments . The well-deserved love and loyalty of her family and friends up until the very end evidences a real woman of substance. She will be missed!!

Whenever I think of Aunt Henny, I immediately relax and smile. I felt like she always saw the humor in whatever life sent her way. Given her incredible political activism, it was a most appropriate attribute.

I remember one time, she was telling us about her car being torched during a riot in Chicago, and she just laughed and laughed at the irony, given the activities she was engaged in at the time of the riot.

She was also an inspiration to me. When I was ten, her example let me know that there was not one way of doing things. Just because someone said “that was what was done,” didn’t mean that you had to do things that way. How liberating!

Thank you Henny, and bless you!

I remember Aunt Henny when she supported me while I was in the Civil Rights movement in Mississippi. I also remember when we all marched in Gage Park, Chicago against the howling mob that burned her car. I also remember the Charlevoix days when we would sit around in her house by Lake Charlevoix shooting the breeze about various things. I remember that she was very active in the Gray Panthers. She certainly made the world a better place by her actions and her presence. I've attached a picture of myself when I was in Japan with some civil rights activists in Japan.

Henny's Bio (Part III):

She was always a dynamic part of the communities she lived in, from Winnetka to Chicago's Lincoln Park neighbourhood where she moved after her children left home, and Andersonville where she returned in the years immediately preceding her death. She also was active in Charlevoix, Michigan where generations of her family had a summer home, and at H.O.M.E. (Homeworkers Organized for More Employment), a community organization in East Orland, Maine, dedicated to helping disadvantaged people, where her youngest daughter lived.

Typical of how she lived her life, she decided to move away from home (to H.O.M.E.!) for the first time in her life at age 75, and chose to “retire” in this hard-working community in rural Maine, where she was an active and respected elder among people of all ages (true to the Grey Panther motto: “youth and age in action”)—a community that was dedicated to living out their Emmaeus community motto “serve first those who need it most”. Her tireless efforts to “make the world a better place” was an extension of the humanitarian values that guided her politics, her sense of morality, and her every day life: love and respect for all people. This was reflected back in the love and respect she received from all who knew her.

In her later years Henny lived with Alzheimer's disease, which she managed to survive with her spirit in tact according to her prevailing philosophy of life: “to make the best of it!” In her mid to late eighties, she moved back and forth from Maine to Chicago, living alternately in the homes of her youngest and oldest daughters who managed her care, each with the help of an excellent team of care-givers, and spent her last days in Chicago until she died at 93 years old. She continued to defy stereotypes, and remained a spirited source of joy and inspiration to all who were fortunate enough to spend time with her. She is survived by her 5 children, 8 grandchildren (Kate, Rebecca, Chris, Liza, Rachel, Jesse, Samuel and Philippa) and seven great-grandchildren (Lily, Willa, Maddie, Charlie, Ike, Mason, and Allie) in whom her strong loving spirit lives on—along with all whose hearts she touched in her full life.

A memorial service and celebration of her life will be/was held with her extended family and friends Sat., March 14, 2009.

In lieu of flowers, please send contributions to H.O.M.E., Inc., Box 10, Orland, Maine 04472. (207-469-3018).

Henny’s Bio cont. (Part II):
Defying her Republican upbringing, she became increasingly active in progressive movements, inspired initially by her children’s involvement in Civil Rights and the ensuing people’s movements of the sixties. She was a founder of the Winnetka Commission of Human Rights and its president for two years, a member of the North Shore Organization for Fair Housing, on the advisory board on housing of The American Friends Service Committee, and on the Women’s Board of the Urban League. After her oldest son Phil III was arrested and beaten up for being a Civil Rights worker in Mississippi, she organized the North Shore Summer Project for open housing in Winnetka (for which she received death threats on her family), took part in the Selma march, with Martin Luther King, and participated in countless demonstrations in Chicago and Washington DC. She hosted many community leaders in her family home, including Martin Luther and Coretta King (whom she invited to give a speech in the Winnetka Village Green where she brought in busloads of inner city residents to attend), and activist David Dellinger (whom she invited to stay at her house during the Chicago Conspiracy Trial).

When she moved to Chicago in the seventies, she became a leader in advocating for the rights of women and old people (head of the Chicago Grey Panthers, a member of the Older Women’s League, a participant in a White House Conference on Older Women in 1980). Inspired by Coretta King, along with Joan Brown from the Chicago YWCA, she was a founding member of Women Mobilized for Change (an activist organization that worked for various kinds of reforms in Chicago). They would sit-in at Mayor Daley Sr.’s office (with white gloves on, clowning as “respectable ladies” for radical change); they showed up at military bases in the area in support of Veterans Against the War during the Vietnam War era; they transported children in their “Women Mobilizer” bus in support of the Black Panther’s Breakfast for Children Program; and they liked to stop traffic in demonstrations when their bus would suddenly break down at strategic points. She was a Precinct captain in her N. Chicago neighborhood for Harold Washington’s mayoral campaigns.

Throughout her career as a community activist, she was dedicated to improving health care services: from community mental health organizations, to serving on a committee with Dr Quentin Young and other physicians to reform Cook County Hospital, and was committed to working for universal health care. She enjoyed doing things like foiling a home repair rip-off scheme being perpetrated against elders by agreeing to have the roof of her Chicago home inspected by the suspects in a probe, while it was being secretly filmed by a Chicago ABC film crew who caught them in the act of damaging her chimney, which they then offered to repair for an exorbitant price.

Here's a longer Bio we wrote for those interested in finding out more about Henyy's Life (in sections to fit into guest book):

Henrietta Boal Moore. December 8, 1915-March 12, 2009

Beloved Mother, Grandmother, Great-Grandmother, and Friend of many.

The child of Ayres Boal and Lesley Johnson Boal, Henrietta was the youngest and only girl in a multi-generation Winnetka family. With three older brothers, Ayres Jr, Stewart and Thomas (now deceased), she learned to hold her own from an early age, whether at sports or around the dinner table.

Henny (as she was known) graduated from North Shore Country Day School in the class of 1933, went to Vassar College and graduated in the class of 1937, married Philip Wyatt Moore Jr (NSCDS, BA and MBA from Harvard) in 1938, and moved back to the North Shore suburb of Chicago where they were both raised. After he died in 1954, she moved the children to the same school (from sixth grade through high school) that they had both attended and their parents had helped found, to be surrounded by family and friends. She went to graduate school briefly in Psychology and Human Relations at the University of Chicago, until she decided she knew more from being the mother of five kids than she could ever learn in school.

Her self-confidence, pluck and sense of fair play guided her throughout her life. When doctors told her she'd be unable to have children after she first married, Henny proved them wrong and gave birth to five: Ayrie, Phil, Lucy, Tom, and Lesley. Upon the death of her husband, she became a widow at age 38, with five children between the ages of 6 and 12 whom she raised on her own, while taking charge of his business, Alert Office Service in downtown Chicago. Although she was working part-time, she always had time for her children, supporting them through the various pursuits of childhood and adolescent passages, and faithfully cheering them on from the sidelines through the triumphs and tribulations of school plays and sporting events. Her open-hearted mothering and the warm and free-wheeling atmosphere of their home provided a favorite gathering place and refuge for children of all ages...
(Part I: to be continued)

Here's a photo of family members present with Henny in Chicago Mar. 12, 2009,beaming love from all her family and friends, including (roughly from left to right): all 5 of her children(Ayrie, Phil, Lucy, Tom, Lesley/Ellen),3 grandchildren (Jesse, Kate and Rebecca) and 2 great grandchildren (Lily and Willa)...and assorted "significant others": (Jason, Kerry, Eagle , Bill)

My gratitude and envy goes to those who got to see Henny through to the end of her life. I miss having her at Robert and Mary’s Place and think of her often. I miss the great personality, full of fun , strength, propriety and advocacy on behalf of others. She corrected my grammar and often nudged my attitude into a better framework. She loved to try new things and played Bingo long after she remembered how, often writing in the numbers as she wanted. I will always remember her with love and admiration.
Is it "Ellen" or "Lesley"?
Ida W. Page

"If you have something difficult to do , make it fun." H.B.MOORE
And so we did, Henny and I, for several years. Her presence and spirit live on at H.O.M.E and St Francis Community, and in my heart.

Ellen and family,
I am sorry for your loss, and sorry that I never got the chance to meet Henny in person. I have heard many great stories about her and how wonderful she was.
Heaven will be blessed with Henny's homecoming. Another party perhaps?
Rest in peace Henny.
God Bless you and all of your family and friends.

Henny you will be remembered in all of our hearts - thank you for all that you gave us in spirit and love...
Your friends at H.O.M.E.

I have lots of beloved memories of Grandmother—she was very dear to me--but right now I'm going to focus on my relationship with her during the later time of her life when she had Alzheimer’s Rebecca and I are both unique among the grandkids in the sense that we were able to be involved in an intimate way and on a daily basis with Grandmother during the Alzheimer’s years. Before Lily was born I was one of Grandmother’s care givers. This involved, getting her dressed, feeding her, giving meds the nitty gritty stuff. It was hard work but it was also a great privilege and a time in my relationship with Grandmother that I treasure. One of the most special things about Grandmother is the way in which she helped other people—and, when the time came, the way she allowed other people to help her—When help was offered respectfully and with love, she accepted it in that same spirit;graciously and with dignity. That’s Grandmother right down to the core; respect, love, grace, and dignity. Humor, joy, and stubbornness too.

Sometimes people would act horrified and tragic when they found out Grandmother had Alzheimer’s. They’d say “oh no, how awful, oh I’m so sorry” And I was always bothered by that because it wasn’t tragic—it was different than how it would have been had she not has Alzheimer’s and It was hard. But Grandmother had a strong upbeat spirit. She was fun and funny to be around. She and I loved spending time together. Our relationship didn’t stop because there came a point when she didn’t remember who I was. At my wedding I said to her “I love you, Grandmother” and she said “I love you too, whoever you are!” And that was a happy funny moment—no tragedy at all! Lack of memory didn’t stop the joy we took in each other’s company. It didn’t stop us from having an active, dynamic relationship, and it didn’t stop Grandmother from enjoying life.

What Alzheimer’s demanded from us, was being with Grandmother in the state she was in, in the moment she was in. Accepting the person she was in the moment and entering into that moment with her. What a beautiful thing; to accept a person for just exactly who there are. And to continue to do that moment by moment while who that person is both changes and remains constant. I feel enormously privileged to have stood by Grandmothers bedside with many of you, accepting and loving her for just exactly who she was, as she took those final breaths. That’s what Grandmother always strove to do; love us for just who we were. And how lucky are we that we were able to both give and receive that gift?

You have blessed our community in so many ways, we are truly grateful to have been blessed by your presence.

Henny the time I spent with you was so healing and inspirational at the same time. I will always use your spirit as a guide in my life. My love and wishes for all of her family.

I loved aunt Henny very much. I remember many thanksgivings at her house and Christmases at ours shared by the Moores and Boals.