Lennis Moore
Lennis Moore
Lennis L. Moore, 64, of Mt. Pleasant, died Wednesday, June 11, 2014, at his home.
An event honoring Lennis will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 21, at Midwest Old Threshers at Museum B. Memorials may be sent to Kimzey Funeral Home of Mt. Pleasant for Midwest Old Threshers or to scholarships in Art at Luther College.
Lennis Lee Moore was born Feb. 20, 1950, in McGregor, the son of Leonard Leo and Bernita Ilene (nee Larson) Moore. He was raised on the family farm between Elkader and Elgin. He was graduated from Valley High School in 1968.
Following graduation, Lennis enrolled at Luther College in Decorah, studying under Orville M. Running, specializing in woodcut printmaking. He was conferred with a Bachelor of Arts in Art Education from Luther in 1972. He met Sandra Lynn Sabin at Luther College and on Sept. 9, 1972, Lennis and Sandy were united in marriage at the Zion Lutheran Church in Rake.
In January 1973, Lennis was hired by the Sanford Museum and Planetarium in Cherokee, where he built museum exhibits and taught classes in Cherokee Schools. In 1978, Lennis and Sandy moved to Mt. Pleasant where Lennis began 34 years of service with Midwest Old Settlers and Threshers. There he oversaw every aspect of the operation, including designing and installing many of the interpretive museum exhibits and coordinating the annual Midwest Old Threshers Reunion.
Lennis was a lifelong printmaker. In Mt. Pleasant he worked with Iowa Wesleyan College and collaborated with artists on many woodcut and printmaking exhibitions. In recent years, Lennis’ woodcuts were represented by the Iowa Artisan Gallery in Iowa City, Eckheart Art Gallery in Decorah, Lanesboro Art Center in Minnesota, and on the web at lennismoore.com.
In Mt. Pleasant, Lennis was a member of the First Presbyterian Church where he sang in the Westminster Choir and was a member of the Mt. Pleasant Kiwanis Club. Lennis and his wife Sandy also owned the Iris City Antique Mall. For many years, Lennis was the announcer for the Mt. Pleasant Community High School Marching Band Invitational. He served as a Natural Resource Commissioner for the Iowa DNR and was an honorary colonel in the Iowa National Guard for his service to the State of Iowa.
Lennis loved to travel to the world, especially to visit his children abroad. He enjoyed the outdoors, fishing, and photographing the Midwest and finding images for new woodcuts. He and Sandy also spent many happy hours at their home with their children, grandchildren, and friends.
Those thankful for sharing in Lennis’ life include his wife Sandy of Mt Pleasan; their children; son Lucas, wife Erin and daughter Amber Rose, of Coralville, son Benjamin and wife Sarah Frydenlund of Decorah, and daughter Catie, husband Bob Scott and son Anderson James, of Kyiv, Ukraine; and many cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends.
He is preceded in death by his parents.