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Mary Somers Moore, a longtime resident of Southampton and New York, died on September 28. She was 85.
Born September 1, 1931, Ms. Moore was raised by Dr. James and Helen Somers in a loving household in which education and a sense of decency and fairness were values to be prized above all others. Thankfully, from her father in particular, she also learned that a life led without a keen sense of humor and great zest would also prove to be a dull one. Thus prepared, after graduating St. Mary of the Woods College, where she was class president, earned highest honors, and was a star of the Drama Club, she was “off to see the world,” beginning her career hosting a public service television program dispensing common sense advise to the beleaguered young housewives of the Eisenhower era. Soon, however, after a whirlwind courtship by Joseph A.C. Moore, she began to practice what she preached. In short order, she was raising five children of her own in a succession of beautiful houses dotted across the country as her husband’s career advanced.
Turning her avocation into a vocation, with her great sense of style, Ms. Moore was ultimately appointed director of the Interior Design Department at Lord & Taylor. Full-page ads in the New York Times urged the tastefully challenged to “Call Mary Moore” for her guidance in making a house into a beautiful home. Much to her great astonishment, thousands did. So did friends and family and she had no end of joy.
In partial retirement, Ms. Moore set up her own design consultancy, traveling between New York and her beloved cottage in Southampton and the ocean she so loved.
She is survived by a sister, Helen Somers Moses; her children, Christopher, Frederick, Mary Elizabeth, Anne and Alison (King Harris); two grandsons, Emerson and Timothy Moore.
A memorial service took place at St. Thomas More Church in Manhattan.
on Oct 21, 2016