Roger Moore, 98, of Brookings and formerly of Gettysburg, passed away Monday, Sept. 21, 2020, at the Brookings Hospital, Brookings, SD.
Due to COVID, a private family burial will take place, followed by a Celebration of Life at a later date.
Roger Ratliff Moore was born Aug. 4, 1922, in Highmore, SD, to Robert and Sadie (Ratliff) Moore. He was the third of their eleven children.
Roger attended schools in Ree Heights, Herron (North Carolina), Potter County and Gettysburg High School before leaving school to work on the family farm following his father’s death.
He was drafted into the U.S. Army in November, 1942, and served as a communications lineman in Company A of the 50th Signal Battalion. Roger was initially stationed in Iceland and England, participating in the ill-fated “Exercise Tiger” at Slapton Sands. He saw action in the D-Day Invasion at Utah Beach, in the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes Forest, and in the liberation march across France and Germany until his discharge in October, 1945. He married Delores Griese in Pierre, SD, on April 16, 1949.
Roger was a long-time farmer who enjoyed raising children, sheep, and (according to his stories) monkeys on Potter County soil.
Even after his retirement from farming, Roger was happiest planting potatoes, feeding pheasants, and puttering around the pole barn at his summer farmstead in Avon Springs Township.
Roger was proud to have served in the South Dakota House of Representatives in Pierre from 1963-1970.
Surviving him are his six children: Bev Moore, Watertown, SD; Rick Moore, Batesland, SD; Jeff (Sue Dahlquist) Moore, Dickinson, ND; Brad (Kathy Tienken) Moore, Aberdeen, SD; Deb (Wayne) Wolforth, Brookings, SD; and Jenny (Jeff) Westphal, Urbandale, IA; his nine grandchildren: Amber, Jason, Justin, Matt, Erica, Travis, Lindsay, Samantha and Michael; 12 great-grandchildren; and his siblings: Jim Moore, Gettysburg; Elwood Moore, Sioux Falls; Alma (Marshall) Dutton, Crawfordville, FL; and Robbie Bobier, Henderson, NV.
He was preceded in death by his wife Delores; his parents; two sisters: Ruth Gilkerson and Lucy VanBockel; and four brothers: Bernice, Charles, Don and Myron Moore.
Luce Funeral Home of Gettysburg has been entrusted with Roger’s arrangements.
