At 90 years old, Loreta Moore is still on the go.

And at 7 p.m. tonight she will pick up her 2008 Liberty Civic Leadership Award at a banquet sponsored by the West Gate Division of the Missouri Municipal League at the Gladstone Community Center.

The award is given annually to an outstanding community leader selected by the mayor with council input. Councilman Paul Jenness recommended Moore for the honor.

“She’s a lovely lady and very deserving of this recognition,” Mayor Bob Steinkamp said. “She gets a great deal accomplished in a quiet way.”

Moore and her husband, Dr. David O. Moore, who is retired as the head of the religion department at William Jewell College, have three children, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Almost as soon as her family moved to Liberty 52 years ago, Moore became active in the community. A native of Arkadelphia, Ark., Moore hasn’t lost her southern accent or zest for life. Moore said she kept her youthful looks and trim figure by eating healthy, living right and doing her own housework and gardening. She also keeps very busy with her civic affairs, family and church.

Last year Moore retired as the volunteer coordinator of the Salvation Army Bell Ringers but she plans to stay involved although not in charge. All the money collected in the kettles stays in Liberty.

Steinkamp said Moore had a “civic soul” and with her good works has impacted literally hundreds and probably thousands of lives.

“(Her story) is about a citizen-leader who has made certain that the fabric of this city, the essence for which we are known, is powerful in its humanity, its faithfulness to all persons, its infrastructure of grass roots, call-to-action efforts that make communities worthy of the name ‘community,” her daughter Kathy Dunn wrote in a two-page letter to the mayor.

In the early 1960s, for example, Moore founded the city’s first preschool in the basement of Second Baptist Church. Now known as Little Tots Preschool, it is housed in Liberty Manor Baptist Church.

Dunn said the preschool gave many local children a solid foundation in life. “Train them up in the way they should grow, and when they are old, they will not depart from it,” was her mother’s motto.

While in her 70s and seeing a growing need in the community, Moore helped found and coordinate In As Much Ministries, an organization that today continues to help feed the hungry. In As Much recently moved into Freedom House, a clearinghouse for a number of local charities.

The 90-year-old “wonder woman” still volunteers at In As Much two days a week, her daughter said. At her age why does she continue to do it?

“These people need help,” Moore said. “If we don’t get them through these bad times, who will?”

Steinkamp said Moore’s impact on untold lives and her strong commitment to the community made her a worthy recipient of the award.

“It’s my honor and privilege to give her this award,” the mayor said.

Award history

Past winners of the Liberty Civic Leadership Award: 

- 1983 — Don Grundy 

- 1985 — Sam Carter 

- 1986 — Daniel M. Lambert 

- 1987 — Jack E. Pritchard 

- 1988 — Gordon Williams 

- 1989 — C. Don Geilker 

- 1990 — Mike Reuck 

- 1991 — Ron Mullennix 

- 1992 — Patsy Triplett 

- 1993 — Sam and Mary Houston 

- 1994 — Joe Wally 

- 1995 — Dr. Cecelia Robinson 

- 1996 — Dr. Wilbur T. Hill 

- 1997 — Glenna Y. Todd 

- 1998 — Jerry Brant 

- 1999 — Robert J. Saunders 

- 2000 — K. Russell Weathers 

- 2001 — Kim Weinmeister 

- 2002 — Fellowship of the Concerned 

- 2003 — Juarenne Hester 

- 2004 — Dr. Myra Unger and Chad Means 

- 2005 — Stephen P. Hawkins 

- 2006 — Kenneth and Cecelia Robinson 

- 2007 — George “Dub” Steincross and Mary Alice Dobberstine

Liberty Editor Angie Anaya Borgedalen can be reached at 781-4941 or aborgedalen@npgco.com.

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