Today's Featured Biography

 
Mary Ellen Rothe Moore

Thinking back over the last fifty years makes me feel blessed and thankful. I left EHS for college just as naïve and green as a person could be. I roomed with Sharon Herring as a freshman and there were many other EHS grads in our dorm. We all had a lot of fun at the University of Arkansas in spite of the fact that, in the 60’s, no one had a car, money, permission to call home (letters instead), and we visited El Dorado just on major holidays!

James Moore and I dated through college and in our senior year, between finals and graduation, we were married in the chapel of the Presbyterian Church in El Dorado. Then we started a pattern that lasted for years. I was off in the summer and taught fifth grade in Little Rock through the school year and James worked in the summers and went to medical school the rest of the year.

We moved often during our first 15 years! In Little Rock we started in the medical center dorm, then on to apartments and small houses. In Gainesville, FL we were back into student housing; back to Little Rock again; Pasadena, California; and finally to Fayetteville, Arkansas.

By this time we had three wonderful little blonde boys—Jim, Robert, and Charlie. All that moving must have taken its toll. We have stayed in our present home for almost thirty years. I’ve remodeled and redecorated every inch of this place—inside and out.

Because James was working long hours and on call often, taking care of Jim, Robert, and Charlie, was my main focus for years. I drove them to every sort of sport, helped with homework and PTA, Sunday school, music lessons, etc. Living in Fayetteville has been a real joy. It’s safe and we could always use the public schools. All the boys went on to graduate schools and they and our daughters-in-law have given us seven beautiful grandchildren. The youngest is nine months old and the oldest is thirteen years old. We feel lucky to have four of the seven in Northwest Arkansas.

My mother, Ann Rothe, moved to Fayetteville in 1988, after the death of my father. She lived to be 94. Judy, my sister whom some of you may remember, would fly in from California to visit and help with mother.

Now that some of my family duties have slowed down, I have had the opportunity to take classes at the U of A (mostly auditing), and to spend more time on book club, gardening (not easy considering how many deer and squirrels live behind our house), bridge, Razorback sports, activities with friends, and the most important and time consuming—Grandbaby care. James and I try to always be available for church leadership roles. Our travel has become much more interesting and relaxed since James has retired.
I’m looking forward to returning to El Dorado for our 50th Reunion.

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