Dennis R. Moore

Dennis R. Moore, 85 of Whiting, passed away Tuesday, September 10, 2019 at his residence. He is survived by his beloved wife of 60 years, Nancy (nee Nemeth); loving father of Gregory (Patti) Moore, Kelly (Karl) Kompier and Michelle Roberts; cherished “papa” of Reese Coros, Kyle and Kevin Kompier, April and Grace Roberts; dearest brother of Gary (Gerri) Moore, Jan (Michael) Masleid and the late Jim Moore; special niece, Dr. Jennifer Moore; many dear in-laws, nieces, nephews and friends.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, September 14, 2019 at 12 noon at the Baran Funeral Home, 1235-119th St., Whiting with Pastor Paul Vale of the New Life Christian Church, Whiting, officiating; entombment, St. John Cemetery, Hammond; visitation at the funeral home on Friday from 4:00 to 8:00pm.

Dennis Moore was born on July 12, 1934 to Stephen and Wahneeta (Gallagher) Moore and was a lifelong resident of the Calumet Region. He was a graduate of Hammond High School, Class of 1952. Denny attended Indiana and Roosevelt Universities and received the “Wall Street Journal Student Achievement Award” for graduating with the highest grades in the School of Finance and Economics. After his graduate work at the University of Chicago Business School, he earned a post graduate diploma in investment securities market regulations from NYU. He did this while completing a company training program down on Wall Street.

 He held several positions in his 30 years in the investment and securities field. Denny was a stock broker, vice president of two firms and for 16 years an independent options trader on the Chicago Board of Options Exchange. Prior to his investment career Denny was drafted for 2 years in the U.S. Army where he went to code school, then finished the rest of his time overseas in Germany as a Morse Code radio operator. He had a U.S. security classification of “secret” so he could send and receive high-priority secret messages when necessary. He also served 4 additional years in the army active reserves while continuing his education. It was during this time that he met Nancy and instantly fell in love with her. Nancy said Denny had 2 goals in life; one to complete his education and the other to spend as much time as possible traveling. Nancy agreed with this and they were married in 1960. Blessed with a son and two daughters, they decided to buy a camper and began camping every summer in the Indiana State Parks. The opportunity to travel extensively arrived when Denny became an independent stock options trader on the CBOE. Owning his own seat he could take the time off whenever he chose. Thus Nancy, Denny and their children spent the next five summers touring the United States. In 1976 they began motor home trips to all four corners of the U.S. and by 1980 had visited 48 states plus a few Canadian provinces. In the winter, the family flew to Florida, Hawaii, and Mexico. Denny retired in 1988 and moved with his wife from Munster to Whiting where they purchased a business and operated it for 17 happy years. Denny was quite interested in the City of Whiting and served several years on both Whiting’s Sanitary Board and Economic Development Committee. When his son Gregory began managing the business, Nancy and Denny traveled to their 50th state on an Alaskan Cruise. Over the years they visited 40 foreign countries. Denny also found time to watch his grandchildren play baseball, basketball, volleyball and golf. He was an avid I.U. basketball fan and he also enjoyed watching professional golf and all of the Chicago sports teams. While he liked sports, he especially loved the arts, attending plays and musical concerts throughout his entire married life. Nancy and Denny were accomplished dancers, never missing the chance to fast dance or dance the polka and if they played Glenn Miller's version of “In the Mood” he would drag Nancy out on the dance floor every time he heard it.    

    Denny was always close to his children and five grandchildren who were the joy of his later years. He was so lucky to have achieved the goals he set early in life and said he would not materially change any part of his past. However, the securities business did provide so many ups and downs that Nancy finally said to him “You’re sure a ‘yoyo”! He often said he could not have begun to do what he did without her loving support, in fact he said that marrying Nancy was the first of his two most important decisions he ever made and the second and greatest decision of his life came when he joined New Life Christian Church. It wasn’t long before he became a devout Christian and remained so for the rest of his final years. He was so thankful for the many friends he and his wife met during their business years and for all the love they shared with them. It was also nice that he met so many additional friends at church which made his life so very enjoyable in his later years. He always tried to live a moral life that was simply based on doing the right thing if at all possible. He was proud that his 3 children and 5 grandchildren all lived up to his expectations. He gave most of that credit to his dear wife Nancy to whom he once told it would be impossible to ever love her more then he did right then.   In lieu of flowers, memorials to the New Life Christian Church, Whiting, would be appreciated. 

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