Louise 'Lou' Moore, 89
On Thursday, Sept. 8, 2005, Louise "Lou" Moore, after being hospitalized with pneumonia and diabetes, decided she was tired and it was time to go home.
Lou's father, Jack Montgomery expected his first born to be a boy and, refusing to be dissuaded by facts to the contrary, named her Jack Louise when she made her appearance in Villa Park, Ill., on June 7. 1916. Her younger sister, Peg, became a film star at 18 months old. When the family later went on the Vaudeville circuit, Lou danced in the chorus and loved the rhythm and the freedom dance gave to her spirit. She attended Lawlor's Professional school in Hollywood with other children in the movie industry at the time — Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Jackie Coogan, Ginger Rogers and Jackie Cooper.
Living in hotel rooms across the country, she and Peg entertained themselves by writing and learning to draw. Both were passions she pursued all her life. But her favorite time growing up was on the ranch in Wyoming, where she was allowed to be a "kid" and discover the quiet of the country as well as the excitement of being an integral part of the family dude ranch.
In 1939, she married John M. Keller Sr. and settled down in Venice, Calif. They had three children. Following her divorce, she moved her family to the San Fernando Valley, where she worked at the California State College in Northridge. She facilitated Alateen and Alanon groups and ran a spiritual support group as well. After her marriage to Glen Moore in 1969 she moved to Tahoe and then to Sandpoint, Idaho in 1973. She left, eventually settling in Grants Pass, Ore., where she remained for 15 years, working as a spiritual counselor and Course In Miracles facilitator, before returning to Sandpoint in 1997.
Lou — a true Gemini — possessed many talents. She was an artist who loved to work in charcoal, water color and acrylics. A seeker of truth, she wrote poetry, novels, short stories, fiction and non-fiction; she crafted dream workshops and presentations on other spiritual topics. Her creativity and love of color and design found delightful expression in her sewing. She loved to devise and build peaceful, prayerful, beautiful spaces. She was the "queen of organization."
Though her education was spotty. Lou was possessed by a powerful thirst for knowledge. Her twin passions — to understand the past and to explore the potential of the future — were contagious. In many ways her lack of formal training sparked a lifelong love of learning for herself and kindled that flame in her children. Raised in a distinctively non-religious family, Lou was, from an early age, pursued by God. Her belief that God transcended religion, led her to explore all of them for what she could learn of the truth and beauty at the heart of existence. Her life was centered in that quest and it was the prism through which she interpreted all experience. "What does it mean to you?" was her theme song in life. Now she knows.
She is survived by her younger sister. Diana "Peg" Serra Cary, the former silent film star, "Baby Peggy;" by her children, Paul and wife Eileen Keller of Sandpoint, Marion Keller of San Diego, Calif., and John and wife Sherry Keller of Denver, Colo; her grandchildren, who never ceased to surprise and delight her, include Aimee Kackley, Sean Keller, Tristan Keller, John Travis Keller and Jessica Keller. She also leaves four great-grandchildren.
She will be missed by all her family and many friends. But all who knew and loved her know that she is dancing, finally, in the fields of the Lord.