I Am Wilshire – Kay Moore.
Hometown: Garland;
Education: Baylor University, B.A., Journalism;
Profession: Retired journalist
Present city: Garland
Tell us about your family.
My husband, Louis, is also a retired journalist, and we’ve been married 53 years. We met as staffers at the Baylor Lariat and have worked in the same profession all of our careers. Our children are Dr. Catharine Welch, married to Casey, and Matthew Moore, married to Marcie. Our grandchildren range in age from 9 to 17 — three boys and a girl.
How about your work or volunteer life?
My career revolved around the printed word, as a wire-service and newspaper reporter and editor and a book author, editor and publisher. In retirement, Louis and I spearhead a nonprofit that has led to the reclamation of our 110-year-old neighborhood, promoting historical preservation and recognizing under-recognized individuals and sites that are part of Garland’s history.
What are your favorite hobbies?
Quilting, needlepoint, cooking, piano and composing music.
What are your favorite places to travel?
Athens, Rome, Maui, Colorado. Still on the bucket list: the Pacific Northwest, where a branch of my family moved early last century.
What brought you to Wilshire and when?
We watched Wilshire via livestream during the pandemic and were impressed with the great care that Wilshire took to protect its people. When in-person church resumed, several Garland friends (Staffords, Hamptons, Hallmans) kindly encouraged us to affiliate. We joined in April 2022.
Where are you engaged at Wilshire?
Compass Class.
What has surprised you most about Wilshire?
Non-cliquishness.
What do you think God is up to in your life?
God is impressing on me that God knows me, hears me and loves me, even when certain persistent prayers seem to be unanswered.
Tell us about your faith journey.
Reared in a traditional Baptist church, I was baptized at an early age and grew up in a strong childhood and youth program and under solid preaching that grounded me. We’ve been members of some outstanding churches: Crescent Hill (Louisville), South Main (Houston), and First Baptist Nashville, to name a few. We can trace God’s faithful hand through each twist and turn of life. Now we feel blessed to experience the richness that is Wilshire.
What’s something interesting most people wouldn’t know about you?
I was the first female journalist admitted to the press box at Churchill Downs, covering the 1970 Kentucky Derby for UPI.
What adjectives describe you?
Detail-oriented, tenacious, multi-plate spinner, over the moon about my grandkids.
If you are interested in being featured in an upcoming I Am Wilshire article, contact Carolyn Murray(cmurray@wilshirebc.org)