News

Mrs. Horace Moody, Sr., laid to rest September 3

Mr. and Mrs. Horace W. Moody, at the NIRSA 1995 Honor Award Banquet.

NIRSA mourns the passing of Mrs. Carolyn Hunter Moody, the widow of one of the Association's founders, on August 27 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Mrs. Moody was a retired administrator, educator, church musician, community leader and resident of Baton Rouge. She died at home, surrounded by her family, after a lengthy illness. Born October 3, 1921, in Meridian, Mississippi, Mrs. Moody was married to Horace W. Moody in Ruston and moved in 1948 to Baton Rouge.

Mrs. Moody attended Talladega and Hunter colleges and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Tougaloo College, with a major in sociology and minors in music and history. Her Master of Arts degree in elementary education, plus 30 hours above, was earned at Southern University, with additional studies at LSU. She led with distinction in the numerous social and civic organizations in which she participated for nearly 60 years. She was a golden member of the Gamma Eta Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. She served as president of the Orah N. Evans Women's Missionary Society, the Matron's Club and the Southern University chapter of Phi Delta Kappa International, where in 2000 she was awarded the National Service Key Award for her 25 years of service. She was also a member of the board of directors of the Audubon Girl Scout Council and the YWCA of Greater Baton Rouge, and served as strategic adviser to the J.K. Haynes Elementary Charter School.

A dedicated and innovative educator, Mrs. Moody taught at Buchanan Elementary School for more than 20 years, and became principal at South Boulevard Elementary School in the late 1970s. During her tenure at South Boulevard Elementary, she initiated the Extended Day Program for the East Baton Rouge Parish School System. This program was designed to accommodate the needs of working parents. It included before- and after-school arts enrichment, academic tutoring, sports activities and special-interest clubs for children, and continues today throughout the state.

Mrs. Moody is survived by three daughters, Esther Moody Collins, Baton Rouge, Dr. Sarah Moody-Thomas and husband Atty Vernon Thomas, New Orleans, and Carolyn Yvette Moody, Baton Rouge; four sons, Horace Wesley Moody, Jr., and wife, Rhonda Faye Wilcox Moody, Stone Mountain, Ga., the Rev. James Merrick Moody Sr. and wife Corlis Smith Moody, South Holland, Ill., Charles Eric Moody, Pearland, Texas, and William Frederick Moody and wife Laura Byrnes Moody, Ethel; a sister, Barbara Hunter Williams and husband Jeff Williams, New York City; 18 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

Horace W. Moody preceded his wife in death in 1998. Horace Moody, Jr., can be contacted at horace.moody@bovislendlease.com or mood9669@bellsouth.net.

Funeral services were held September 3 in Baton Rouge. Flowers were sent by the NNC, and NIRSA was represented at the services by J. Michael Dunn, CRSS, Director of the Department of Recreational Sports at The Ohio State University.