Penny Louise (Werschey) Moore

            Penny Moore went to be with the Lord on Friday night, May 15, 2009, surrounded by her family, after losing a long battle with cancer.

            She was born in Lincoln, Illinois in the summer of 1946, the second of six children born to Milton and Vyvyan Werschey. She graduated from Lincoln Community High School in 1964.

            Penny met Terry Moore, of Atwater, California, in August 1964, while he was visiting relatives in Lincoln with whom Penny was employed. That fall she moved to Sacramento, California where she took a job as a telephone operator for Pacific Bell. After settling in Sacramento, Penny made contact with Terry and they soon started dating. They were married May 17, 1965.

            A son, Erik Moore, was born in 1967, now residing with wife Jill in Goleta, CA. A daughter, Kerri Moore Shepherd, was born in 1970, now residing with husband James in Hesperia, CA. The family lived in Atwater, California until 1972, when they moved to southern California to pursue job opportunities.

            Penny stayed home and took care of her children until they were of school age. She then earned her AA at Cerritos College, followed by a BA and an MA in Communicative Disorders from Cal State Long Beach, as well as teaching credentials in Communications Handicapped and General Education.  She was a member of Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society.

            She had a 25 year career in teaching beginning with Special Education in Montebello (LA Unified School District), followed by Willow Elementary and Mary Bragg Elementary (ABC Unified School District). After moving to Loma Linda, California in 1988, she taught at Terrace View Elementary (Colton Joint Unified School District).  Retiring from teaching in June, 2004, she remained a member of the Retired California Teachers Association.

            The couple moved to Hesperia, California shortly before her retirement to start a new phase of their life.

            She joined the Red Hat Society, local chapter Roxie’s Red Hat Rebels, in 2005. She was proud to be a member and greatly enjoyed the company of the women she met through that organization. They became some of her best friends on the high desert.

            Not content to rest on her laurels, Penny took classes in desert ecology at Victor Valley College in Victorville. This helped her to better appreciate the desert community around her and to develop her backyard landscape design, of which she was very proud.

            She is survived by her husband, two children, granddaughters Kassondra, Jordan and Samantha, brothers Mike (Sue) of Lincoln,  John (Dixie) of  Springfield and David (Sharyn) of Sparks, NV, sisters Taffy DeJarnette (Bill) of  St. Josephs, IL and Kalyn Berglin (Jay) of Lincoln.

            A local celebration of life will be held at a later date.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to the American Cancer Society.