(Veteran Flag) (Photo)

Blair native Neil E. Moore, 71, of Charleston, Ill., died Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2003, at Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center in Illinois.

Funeral services will be held Friday, Aug. 15, at Adams Funeral Chapel in Charleston. Military rites will be conducted by the Honor Guard of V.F.W. Post No. 1592 of Charleston. Inurnment will be held at a later date at the Blair Cemetery.

Neil E. Moore was born Sept. 27, 1931 in Blair to Daniel and Violet (Pearce) Moore.

He was an outstanding high school athlete, lettering in football and track, and began boxing in Golden Gloves tournaments in his junior year. While earning his degree at Dana College, he lettered four years in football and track, received All-American recognition in track, was the Mid-Western Light-Heavyweight Golden Gloves champion, and was named the 1954 Nebraska State College Athlete of the Year. In 1976, he was inducted into the Dana College Athletic Hall of Fame.

Moore earned his bachelor’s in history from Dana College; his master’s in secondary education from the University of Hawaii, and his educational specialist degree in kinesiology from Northern Colorado University. He was a military veteran, serving as a commissioned office with the United States Marine Corps.

Moore married twice: In 1955, he married Alberta Wilkinson in Honolulu, Hawaii, and on Aug. 28, 1965, he married Shirley Bohs in Blair.

A man who lived and breathed coaching, he was a giant in the intercollegiate coaching profession. His style and success and the success of his student athletes was widely recognized throughout the intercollegiate coaching community. His athletes were taught to “give their best” and, more often than not, he inspired them to perform beyond their expectations. He instilled in them the values of family, education, discipline, preparation, fairness, patriotism, self-respect and respect to others; he lived, coached and led by these same values.

Moore had retired in 1994 from Eastern Illinois University after 25 years of teaching and coaching. He was a 12-time Mid Continent Coach of the Year and directed 11 teams to the indoor/outdoor Mid Continent Conference championships between 1983 and 1992, and none finished lower than second. He coached two Division I national champions, five NCAA individual champions, and three athletes who qualified for the Olympic trials. Fifty-nine of his athletes earned either NCAA I or II All-American honors. He served as manager for the IHSA boys’ track meet for 20 years, and was honored as the college referee for the prestigious Drake Relays in 1980. In 1995, he was inducted into the Eastern Illinois University Coaches Hall of Fame. In 1996, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Award from the Blair Community Foundation.

His hobbies included photography, snow and water skiing. He carried memberships in numerous professional organizations.

He is survived by Shirley, his greatest fan and devoted wife of nearly 38 years; two sons and a daughter-in-law, Mark B. and Hilarie Moore and Matthew B. Moore, all of the Los Angeles area; three grandchildren; two brothers and a sister-in-law, Larry Moore of Blair and Lowell and “Frankie” Moore of North Platte; sister and brother-in-law, Wanda and Bob Marsh of Papillion; and mother-in-law, Velma Bohs of Blair.

He was preceded in death by his parents, a brother, Harold Moore, stepfather, Donald Rouse, and father-in-law, Ernest “Perky” Bohs.

Memorials are suggested to the Eastern Illinois University Foundation, Neil E. and Shirley B. Moore Track Scholarship Fund, or to Dana College, Neil E. and Shirley Bohs Moore Scholarship Fund. Memorials may be mailed to Adams Funeral Chapel, 2330 Shawnee Drive, Charleston, IL 61920.

World Herald 30 Aug 2003

Neil Moore, 71; former track coach

A memorial service for Neil Moore, a coach and former standout high school athlete from Blair, Neb., is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Blair.

Moore became the most successful track coach in Eastern Illinois University history. He died Aug. 12 at a Charleston, Ill. hospital. He was 71 and had been in poor health.

Moore demonstrated his athletic prowess on the football field, on the track and in the boxing ring.

~~~ Obituary courtesy of the Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair Public Library at Blair, Nebraska.~~~