Date of Birth:
Saturday, October 12, 1935
Date of Death:
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Age:
77 years old

Dr. Gordon L. Moore, II

Dr. Gordon L. Moore, II, 77, Rochester, Minn., died Tuesday, May 21, 2013, at Charter House in Rochester surrounded by family members. His death was due to complications of Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia.

Moore was born Oct. 12, 1935, in Vicksburg, Mich., to Gordon L. Moore and Geraldyne (Vermeulen) Moore.  He was raised in Vicksburg, a small community south of Kalamazoo, Mich., with his brother Timothy.  Moore was a football, basketball, and baseball player for Vicksburg High School, from which he graduated in 1953.  He had fond memories of Vicksburg and its people.

Moore matriculated at the University of Michigan in 1953, beginning a life-long love affair with everything “Maize and Blue.”  Moore graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1960 with the M.D. degree. While at Michigan, Moore became a member of the Alpha Delta Phi and Nu Sigma Nu fraternities, where he met many life-long friends, and he cheered on the Wolverines at numerous football, basketball, and hockey games.

At the “U of M,” Moore also met the love of his life, Joan Sluggett.  They were married June 12, 1959, at Grosse Pointe, Mich.  After an internship from 1960-61 at the Maine Medical Center at Portland, Maine, Moore was drafted in 1961 into the U. S. Navy and was a battalion and regimental surgeon with the Second Division of the U. S. Marine Corps at Camp Lejeune, N.C.  Moore was stationed with the Marine Corps at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, during the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962.  Moore was discharged from the Navy with the rank of Lieutenant Commander in 1963 and was accepted into a fellowship first in medicine and then in psychiatry at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.  In addition, he earned an M.S. in psychiatry at the University of Minnesota in 1971.

After completing his medical training, Moore was appointed to the staff of the Mayo Clinic’s Dept. of Psychiatry and Psychology as a Consultant on July 1, 1967, and he practiced in distinguished fashion for over 31 years.  During his career at the Mayo Clinic, Moore became the head of a section of Adult Psychiatry and then in 1985 was appointed Department Chair, serving in that capacity until 1993.  While Department Chair, Moore was responsible for overseeing the creation of the Generose Building at St. Mary’s Hospital and the Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology at the Mayo Clinic facilities in Scottsdale, Ariz., and Jacksonville, Fla.  Moore retired from active medical practice in October 1998.

An adult psychiatrist, Moore was recognized as Minnesota Psychiatric Practitioner of the year.  He was appointed as a first assistant in psychiatry at the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine in 1966 and later as Associate Professor of Psychiatry on the Mayo Medical School faculty.  He was an examiner for the American Psychiatric Association’s specialty boards over 50 times.  Later in his career, he became the longtime secretary-treasurer and then president of the Mayo Alumni Association, which gave him and Joan the chance to travel around the world after their three children graduated from college.

Moore was an avid reader, gardener, and passionate U of Michigan sports fan. He was particularly knowledgeable about the history of the American Civil War, having spent time at many of its major battlefields.  He embraced the concept of humanism in his life and practiced its tenets with his patients, medical colleagues, and friends.  To his family he was a loyal, supportive, and encouraging father and spouse.

Besides his wife, Joan, Moore is survived by his three sons, the Hon. Gordon L. Moore III (Jane) of Worthington, Dr. Andrew G. Moore (Katherine) of Rochester, and Stephen S. Moore (Lynn) of Maple Grove; seven grandchildren (Gordon H., Meredith, Davis, Schuyler, Emma, Spencer and Tristan); his brother Timothy I. Moore (Marti) of Vicksburg, Mich.; and four nieces and nephews.

A private family service and interment at Fort Snelling National Cemetery will be held June 4; a public service of celebration for the life of Dr. Moore will take place at 3:30 p.m. June 16^th at the Rochester Arts Center.

In lieu of flowers, memorials to the Mayo Clinic Research Foundation are preferred.