WILMINGTON — Annabelle Wanda Lamm Moore died peacefully from complications of a chronic illness on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016, at Autumn Care of Myrtle Grove. She was three days away from her 90th birthday.
Born Oct. 14, 1926, in Lucama, N.C., Wanda grew up on a family farm where the crops were tobacco, cotton and peanuts. A mule team pulled the plow, and getting to school meant walking or a wagon ride. She graduated Lucama High School in 1943 and earned a bachelors degree at East Carolina Teachers College in Greenville, N.C. in 1947. She taught 7th grade at Grimesland High School and 8th grade at Walnut Cove School in Rural Hall, N.C.
In 1950, Wanda married Bowman Gray medical student Robert A. Moore Jr. from Winston-Salem, N.C. In 1959 they chose Wilmington for their home, and Dr. Robert A. Moore Jr. became the first to establish a practice in neurosurgery serving southeastern N.C.
Wanda was a stay-at-home mom who raised her family on made-from-scratch, home-cooked meals and who enjoyed creating dresses on a Singer sewing machine back in the day. She valued family and faith, education and art, history and travel. When her children were out of the nest, she became a realtor for Laney Real Estate Co. until retirement.
She was an Emeritus member of the Cape Fear Garden Club with a talent for gardening. Her home was surrounded by massed azaleas and featured on the 1987 Azalea Festival Garden Tour.
In 1997, she served as president of the Scottish Society of Wilmington, an organization she helped from its founding days. Wanda was a charter member of the Ann Marwood Durant Chapter of the Colonial Dames XVIIc and a member of Chapter 3 United Daughters of the Confederacy. She was a devoted member of St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church in Wilmington.
Travel and photography were favorite hobbies. She traveled throughout the U.S. and Europe, cruised to Bermuda, and rode the TransCanada railway to Lake Louise. Wanda and her family enjoyed their summers at the Hanover Seaside Club in Wrightsville Beach, N.C.
Wanda was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Robert A. Moore Jr, her parents, Ivey A. and Louisa L. Lamm, sisters, Louise L. Radford, Marjorie L. Burgess, Josephine L. Beatty and brothers, Frederick J. Lamm (infant) and Ivey Anderson Lamm, as well as her son-in-law, Gary Stocks of Chicago, Ill..
She is survived by daughter, Dr. Melinda A. Moore of Chicago, Ill., daughter, Nel Moore Nichols and son-in-law, Lan M. Nichols of Wilmington, son, Dr. Robert A. Moore III and daughter–in-law, Brenda K. Moore of Wilmington, granddaughter, Jessica L. Moore of New York, N.Y., grandson, Brett A. Moore and granddaughter-in-law, Rachel W. Moore of Nashville, Tenn. Wanda is survived by her sister Sylvia L. Lamm, sister-in-law, Vivian J. Lamm, both of Lucama, N.C., and her brother-in-law, Radford M. Moore and sister-in-law, Jean P. Moore of Winston-Salem, N.C., along with many cousins, nieces and nephews.
The family especially wishes to thank Stacey Stukes and Octavia Stukes for their many years as Wanda’s caregiving angels.
Memorials for Wanda L. Moore can be made to St. Matthews Lutheran Church, 612 S. College Road, Wilmington, NC 28408 or the Scottish Society of Wilmington, P.O. Box 4164, Wilmington, NC 28406 or a charity of choice.
Visitation will be at Andrews Mortuary Market St. on Friday, Oct. 14, 2016, from 6-8 p.m. Funeral service will be held Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016, at 1 p.m. at Andrews Mortuary Chapel Market St. with the Rev. Marvin Schedler. Interment will follow at Oakdale Cemetery.
Condolences may be offered at www.andrewsmortuary.com