Jane Rundquist's Reading at Charlie's Memorial
Remembering Charlie
Jane Rundquist
July 23, 2007
How do you summarize a life - especially a well and richly lived life? In thinking about this I thought it was important to not just talk about Charlie, but also provide some kind of context for his life. Dr. Charles Vincent Moore - known to most of us as Charlie - was a man of many interests, accomplishments, and titles. It occurred to me that looking at some of the titles he acquired through the years was also one way of providing a context for remembering Charlie.
Family Titles
- Son -Born to Hazel and Laurence Moore in 1931 in Ohio their youngest son. I met Hazel numerous times in her later years when she was a regular visitor to Moores in California. She was a woman with soft brown eyes, an easy smile, and a quick wit. She must have had some steel behind her gentle demeanor as she raised five accomplished kids - four of them rambunctious boys - on a farm in Ohio during the depression. Hazel was a very accomplished woman herself, a graduate of Oberlin, a promoter of reading and literacy, a nurse. I think Charlie’s strong sense for community service as well as his focus towards an academic career was a direct legacy from his Mother.
I never had the opportunity to meet Laurence, but suspect that Charlie’s very solid work ethic and effective work habits were formed working with his dad on the farm. Pat more than once pointed out to me with great pride - and some amazement -- that Charlie very seldom brought work home or worked on the weekends or evenings.(and this was a man who published more than 140 papers) Charlie’s approach was to get to work promptly every day, work hard and efficiently while there and then come home to his family and other interests, leaving work behind. I can visualize Charlie right now on his bike, pedaling past our house towards or returning from UCD -an occurrence that happened 4 times a day because most days he came home for lunch. - Brother of Maryanna, Robert, and the twins Hugh and John. Charlie was the baby of the family but according to his version of things he was never babied. He thought it was a rough road being the youngest. His brothers likely have a different version of things but I have gathered from the many stories I heard that no one growing up on the Moore farm near Canal Winchester was babied. Charlie loved to remind anyone who was complaining about any hardships that as kids the boys slept on the porch all year round including winter and many a time they woke up with snow covering their blankets. He said that he and his brothers never had much of a curfew - because when you had to get up at 5:00 every morning to milk the cows it wasn’t necessary. (That work ethic again)
It is clear that Charlie’s siblings were a big influence on him. Charlie moved forward in life with big shoes to follow -which is perhaps one factor that inspired him to excel. He maintained a lifelong relationship with his sister and brothers --as evidenced by numerous pictures in Rob’s slide show --even though they were geographically separated by many miles for all their adult lives My favorite picture is the one of all four brothers in uniform - 3 Navy,1 army. Clearly there was an expectation of service in the Moore family and Charlie followed his older brothers into the military.
In the later years with the advent of the Internet Charlie loved nothing more than sending a political cartoon or article off to one of his brothers if he thought it would get a rise out of them. (I gathered that he had a slightly different political sensibility than his brothers.) I think it is telling that one of the very last pictures of Charlie was taken with his brother Hugh arm in arm in Charlie’s backyard - about a week before he died. His nephews Doug and Andrew with wife Jenny came to visit the same day and his great nephews enjoyed an afternoon swimming followed by a meal prepared by Chef Bruce on the patio. It was a fun and typical family gathering. I also attended this patio party because in my normal snoopy fashion whenever I hear over the fence that the Moores are having more fun than me I invite myself over. That evening there was a lot of laughter going on and everyone was having a great time. I’m especially glad I crashed this party as we left for Minnesota a couple days later and it was the last time I really chatted with Charlie. I am grateful that my last visit with Charlie was in that back yard--the place of so many wonderful gatherings and memories - and that the vision I have is of Charlie in his element, engaged in the give and take of great and very funny family stories. - Husband. Patricia Dudley Moore - married in 1954 The story goes that Pat and Charlie first met on a blind date to a fraternity Halloween party at Ohio State. Pat must have had a good time because she decided this guy was not only cute but someone she wanted to see again. Not one to leave things to chance, Pat sweet talked a friend at the registrar’s office to give her Charlie’s class schedule and then Pat conveniently put herself in front of each of Charlie’s classes so she could “accidentally” run into him. That story really makes me chuckle because those of us who knew both Pat and Charlie know that if Pat had her sights set on him, he didn’t have a chance. I’m sure Charlie was dazzled and hardly knew what had hit him when he met Pat. They were an amazing couple, complemented each other so well - Charlie, quiet, steady, reserved, with his wry humor and , Pat so beautiful, full of ideas, outgoing and vivacious with a “full steam ahead attitude“ and her heart on her sleeve. They were married in 1954, a year after Charlie graduated Ohio State and had returned from his first year in the Navy. He and a buddy drove straight through from San Diego to Ohio in less than 2 days when their ship arrived from their tour of duty. As Charlie said of that trip “I had a girl waiting for me.” They had a wonderful marriage - and complemented and supported each other for 47 years, through the good and the bad. Together they tackled community issues, traveled the world, hosted some of the best parties in Davis, raised a family, attended the Unitarian church, participated in local politics, built a real estate business, enjoyed life and each other. She was the spark. He the steadying hand. Charlie was steadfast in his love and support for Pat - the light of his life -- and this was especially apparent in those last years when they faced the tragic loss of Greg and later as Pat fought major health problems. They were always there for each other to the absolute best of their abilities. It was a love story.
- Father. Along with marriage came the title Father. Now that is a significant title and one he relished. Greg and Bruce were born in Ohio while Charlie was still a graduate student and Rachel after they had settled into Davis. Charlie was the kind of dad his kids could count on. Along with Pat his kids were his first priority - the reason to work hard but not so hard that he didn’t have time for them. He really was one of those rare successful men who had his priorities straight, who did balance the demands of his career with the needs of his family. Though his mother might have had occasional dispute about that. Charlie’s career, in fact, lead to some major family adventures including a two year teaching appointment in Ludhiana India. Rachel was a baby at the time and it is my understanding that when the news spread to Canal Winchester, Hazel called Charlie and told him it was fine that they were heading for India but they could just leave Rachel with her in Ohio. Didn’t happen. Rachel’s first language was Punjabi.
I doubt there was a recital or performance of any kind in which Greg, Bruce, or Rachel participated that he missed - and there were a lot of them as these were talented kids. Charlie was always there for his kids and provided them a clear moral compass, a wonderful example, and an enormous amount of patience. I don’t want to speak out of turn or give away family secrets BUT those Moore boys were not the easiest kids to raise!! Some kids are maybe just a little too smart and creative for their own good. But look at what splendid adults they all became. Years after his kids were grown, I many times heard Charlie give this advice to younger parents of teenagers, “You just have to wait them out, wait them out.” Another way of saying have faith in them. Charlie, of course, did more that wait his kids out - he was always actively supportive of their efforts to move forward in their lives.
I think it is especially a credit to Pat and Charlie -who both obviously had a very strong academic bias--that they had the flexibility and wisdom to pay more than lip service to the idea of giving their kids wings. Not one of these talented Moore kids took the direct route from high school to college to a career. Yet look at where their own paths took them. After some starts and stops Greg graduated UCLA, Oregon Law School, and landed in a law practice he loved where he got to go after the “bad guys.” Bruce took his curiosity and enormous energy to in the technical world of hardware, chips, and batteries and rose to the top as an engineer .in the highly competitive work environment of the Silicon Valley. Rachel finished high school and became, of all things, a professional dancer at ABT in New York and THEN years later attended Brown, Columbia, and is today the youngest director in the history of ABT. Not “normal” paths.
We all know Charlie wasn’t the one in the family to wear his heart on his sleeve but Bruce, Rachel you must know how proud he has always been of you. He beamed whenever he talked about either of you - and modestly pretended he was a little amazed at the level of your achievements. - Father-in-law. With grown kids Charlie gained another family title he loved -that of father-in-law. I think one of the happiest and proudest days of his life was when he walked Rachel down that beautiful path in Beaulieu Gardens and put Rachel’s hand into Rob’s. Because he knew Rachel had found love in her life with someone who, like Charlie, Rachel and the family could count on.
This is a little aside but thinking of that wedding brings a whole array of memories for me that also show some things about the Moore family. It was a two year engagement so as far as Pat was concerned that meant two years of wedding planning - and I can’t remember a “project” Pat ever took on that she loved and enjoyed more than planning this wedding - and poor Charlie just hung on for the ride (shaking his head and smiling the whole time.). One of the best aspects of the wedding planning was the research to find the right location for the wedding - and Bill and I enjoyed many a weekend with the Moores checking out wineries and restaurants in the Napa. Pat and Charlie always had a knack of turning regular tasks into entertainment and fun. The whole family was involved in the wedding plans. To everyone’s delight Greg and Bruce made sure that there was an orchestra playing at their sister’s wedding so the dancing into the night could be to rich live music. I can still see Charlie on that dance floor, dapper and handsome in his tuxedo, proudly holding that beautiful daughter in his arms for the first dance (which by the way, Rachel had made him practice!).
Pat and Charlie didn’t have the type of marriage where there were many secrets from each other but both in the planning stages and in recalling the event long after, she often told me rather proudly and with a wink and conspiratorial look “You know, I don’t think Charlie has to know everything about everything, like what this wedding is actually costing...” ) Not that he would have cared but Pat and Charlie were raised in the depression, were economists by profession and not prone to extravagance (A “Use it up, Make it do, Go without” philosophy) and this was one event where Pat was determined about making the magic rather than “making do.” And there was magic the night Rob officially joined the Moore family and Charlie first became an official father-in-law. It is a bit of a lesson for all of us -- as time and events march on it is the magic we will remember not the costs.
Charlie became a father-in-law a second time when Bruce and Cathy FINALLY got around to getting married. (Whew). They also had a marvelous outdoor wedding in a wonderful and beautiful venue - The Moore backyard. As anyone who knows Bruce would suspect, his wedding had a different kind of ambience than his sister’s but was a wedding that was just plain fun - including a large piñata, one that I recall was a very tough piñata that took a lot of whacking before it gave up its treasure. I talked to Charlie quite a bit before the wedding and he was truly thrilled that Cathy was going to officially join the family - and very touched that they had chosen the backyard for the wedding. He spent weeks working on the “grounds” so it would look spectacular. Charlie not only thought Cathy was GOOD for Bruce, but he and she hit it off from the beginning.
Charlie had an easy and special relationship with both Rob & Cathy that was more than just being “in-laws”. They enjoyed each other’s company and also developed relationships with Charlie that was in some ways independent of their spouses - enough that they spent time together. One of Rob’s favorite recent stories about Charlie was taking him to this year’s Rose Bowl between Michigan and USC. Rob grew up in Michigan so is definitely a Michigan fan. Now anyone who has watched the score signs go up on either the Moore or the Thorpe yards in our cul-de-sac for the last 40 years after the Ohio State - Michigan football game would know that Charlie was a diehard Buckeye fan. I recall one year when Ohio State clobbered Michigan but Robin Thorpe was on sabbatical in Australia so Charlie couldn’t gloat over the victory via his lawn sign. He solved the problem by sending Robin a telegram stating ONLY the score. He didn’t need to sign it. Robin knew who sent it. So Rob’s invitation to the Rose Bowl created a bit of a dilemma for Charlie as he had to sit in the middle of the Michigan cheering section. According to Rob his solution was unique. He exhibited his loyalty by wearing an American Ballet Theatre sweatshirt -undoubtedly the only one in the stadium packed with 100,000 fans
Cathy told me that she loved that Charlie had a wise crack for everything yet was always so thoughtful and kind to her and the people around her. She shared a couple recent example of Moore humor in action. Because he is in charge of the cooking, Bruce made a sign and posted it in the kitchen declaring himself “the kitchen Nazi.” Later Cathy noticed that Charlie had added to the sign “and you know what happened to the Nazis.” She said that both she and Charlie found great amusement in the fact that one of the reasons Cathy had moved to Davis was to help him out around the house, with shopping, etc. BUT nearly every time they went shopping together it was Cathy who couldn’t remember where they parked the car and Charlie would have to help find it.
Charlie was a wonderful Father and father-in-law but I must add that you “kids” were wonderful to him. How many sons have every bought their father the car of his dreams as Greg and Bruce did? “Rice Boy”, that small jazzy white Honda two seat convertible - presented by the boys for one of Charlie’s birthday --was Charlie’s pride and joy, something he would have NEVER splurged to buy himself but he loved that car. Enough that it actually got to live in the garage He loved driving it, talking about the looks he got from young guys when he drove it, and mentioning that his sons had bought it for him.
You invited him into your lives in so many ways - including great and memorable trips. In addition to wonderful annual family trips to the Caribbean and Mexico and Central America, you offered him many additional adventures. Bruce traveled with him through the battle fields of the Civil War and World War II. Last year Rachel and Rob took Charlie to India, a place near and dear to your Dad’s heart . The trip itself was not only good for your Dad but he was thrilled for the previous six months anticipating it. He loved visiting you in New York, Rachel and Rob -even though a little of the city itself went a long ways for him. He was so proud of being invited to the big ABT gala a couple of years ago--but being fundamentally modest he couldn’t overtly brag about it the way Pat might have. Instead he let us know he was attending this glittering event by grousing, complaining that THAT RACHEL was making him rent a tuxedo.
When the time came that Charlie began to need a little help, you kids pow wowed and Bruce and Cathy moved to Davis and in with Charlie. Bruce has always been one of those folks that when he enters the room the pace picks up a little - or a lot. At the beginning, during the settling in, Bruce immediately took on some long deferred maintenance, painting and fixing dry rot, upgrading the furniture - and Charlie’s nose was maybe a little out of joint for awhile. There was a lot of commotion and change going on for him. But Bruce also cooked - full lunches and dinners every day. A couple months ago when Cathy and Bruce took a week at Tahoe, Bill caught Charlie while he was walking Bingo and asked if it was kind of nice to have some calm and the place to himself. Charlie thought a moment and then said “No, I sure miss Bruce’s cooking!” All of you - Bruce, Cathy, Rachel, and Rob - took such good care of your Dad, of Charlie. You did everything right. Please take that knowledge with you and let it help heal the hole you now have in your heart.
Professional Titles
- Naval Communications Officer Charlie served 2 years active duty in the Navy on a destroyer beginning as an ensign and finishing as a first lieutenant. Most of the stories I heard him tell about the Navy had more to do with bailing out young sailors from trouble on shore leave than the details of his job - though he did know Morse code and what all kinds of flags meant. Though I don’t think the Navy was a primary influence in his life or career, Charlie was proud of his service and the Navy did make a lasting impression on him in some areas -- particularly on issues related to leadership and responsibility.
Charlie didn’t have much use for excuses from anyone and particularly individuals assigned responsibility. Some of that view might have come from his service in the Navy. In various versions of Navy stories he told me that whatever happened to a ship, no matter what the circumstances, the Captain was in charge, the Captain was responsible. End of story. That clear moral compass again.
Charlie had a variety of other professional titles and I will only touch on them here because his colleagues have spoken with much more intimate knowledge than me. His other professional titles are distinct - but related. - PhD, Agricultural Economist, Researcher, Consultant, Teacher . I add my views about Charlie and his profession as friend, a neighbor, and an observer. He received his PhD from Ohio State in 1959 and soon thereafter headed off as a USDA field employee to UC Davis with Pat and 2 kids in tow to take on his other professional titles.
What I must say first and most of all, Charlie loved what he did. As mentioned earlier his style was not that of a workaholic who made his work his whole life, yet he brought enormous energy, curiosity, discipline, intelligence, creativity, skill, and care to his work. He was always eager to discuss his projects and fine tune his ideas and did so with animation and enthusiasm. I learned a lot of basic economics sitting around the Moore’s kitchen counter - about 160 acre proposals and the value of establishing water markets long before it was policy in California. One of the best economic concepts and phrases I ever learned from Charlie was “internalizing the externalities.” A concept that both he and I thought was of fundamental importance for tackling environmental issues, and even better for me, a great phrase to drop at social functions to sound smart.
If there ever was a case of “You can take the boy out of the country but not the country out of the boy” and putting it to good use, it was Charlie. It is my impression that one of the reasons Charlie was so good at what he did was that in addition to his academic skills he brought a practicality to his research, his ideas, his teaching that had its basis in knowing what it meant to be a farmer.
His common sense approach allowed him to communicate and explain complex ideas to the layman and certainly was one of reasons he was sought after as a consultant on many types of projects through the years. He especially enjoyed being involved in and arguing a well reasoned and/or empirically based point of view on controversial issues. I remember, for example, he helped a farmer double the price a city had to pay for land being taken on an eminent domain case. He consulted for years on a litigious water rights case in southern California helping them determine what was a “reasonable use of water.” I can still see him grin while declaring “There is NOTHING as much fun in California as a good water fight.”
Charlie also loved his teaching, his mentoring, and took that responsibility very seriously. I can vividly remember a favorite story of his. A star football player darkened his door one Friday afternoon. He described an ominous big dark shadow appearing that soon filled the entire door. “Dr. Moore, YOU made me ineligible to play in the big game tomorrow. Can we work something out?” but Charlie was unmoved by his plight. “But YOU failed the exam!” The player sat out the game. Charlie loved football and the Aggies but believed in responsibility first, not excuses, and certainly wasn’t one to be intimidated into lowering academic standards to win a football game.
I know firsthand that Charlie was a great teacher as he once challenged me into auditing one of his classes. I thought “what the heck”, might be interesting. I expected to sit in the back, be anonymous, and as a non economist in an upper division class not say anything. To my great surprise, he immediately announced to the whole class who I was and picked on me the whole time - and I ended up having to do all the reading just to protect myself. It was really FUN! His class had such a great -- ambience.
Community Titles
Charlie used his many talents in many ways to give back to the community
- 4-H Bunny Leader The first community title that comes to mind is 4-H Bunny Leader. And he took this title as seriously as any of them. I know that there are many kids - including Rachel - who learned about animal husbandry because of Charlie’s leadership here.
- Board Member He served on a number of Boards of Directors through the years including Freedom from Hunger and The Davis Farmer’s Market where is years of experience in ag economics was put to great use. He traveled to both Africa and South America for various projects for Freedom from Hunger and was a great proponent of both cooperatives and micro-lending projects in developing countries.
- Grand Juror After retirement Charlie submitted his name for consideration for serving on the Yolo County Grand Jury and was selected to serve two terms. He found the investigative work and the entire process fascinating and I am sure he was a voice of reason with a unique point of view on the various matters the jury reviewed.
Personal Titles
- Sailor Charlie loved sailing, passed several sailing certifications, and had a number of sailboats through the years ranging from a small boat with a center board for sailing on lakes like Folsom to the 23 ft Ranger that he and Pat partnered with the Judsons and Howitts moored on the Bay at Point Richmond. Pat always said that “God lived on the buoy in the middle of the Bay” and that was the reason they often sailed there on Sundays. For Charlie there were only two classes of boats - sailboats and stink potters. You know which was the only one Charlie thought was worthy -- the one that was challenging and required some skill to operate.
- Gardener Once in Davis Charlie no longer had to get up at 5:00 a.m. to milk the cows but his affinity for growing things never diminished. Charlie’s yard was always beautiful and colorful. He had the temperament required of a good gardener. After saying hello to Pat almost the first thing he did when coming home from work was to begin puttering with his plants - watering, pinching dead flowers, trimming. He always like challenges and as a gardener that meant one thing --orchids. He took on orchids in a big way for many years including building a greenhouse, joining the orchid society, finding orchids on many continents during his travels.
- Neighbor Charlie was a good neighbor in both the large sense of the word and in the very local sense of living as a neighbor on Vassar Drive. We had so many good times on this cul-de-sac. In the early years when there were kids galore in every house the parents made a pact that no matter what awful things our kids might do, we would all still be friends. He was the kind of neighbor who helped put gates into the fences between his yard and ours and the Bruchs to make it easier access for all. Charlie was a founding member of the South Vassar Drive Fun Association which was just a fancy name for the Rundquists, Moores, and Childs doing some trips to the Napa Valley. He immediately dubbed it “South Vass Fun Ass.”
- I can only wonder how many times Charlie grilled dinner for the weekly gathering of folks who arrived unannounced but were always welcomed into the Moore back yard on Friday afternoons. Charlie especially seemed to enjoy the neighborhood kids. I remember him being completely enchanted when 5 year old Amanda Brush moved in across the street. My daughters Wendy and Kari are so sad about not being here today as they are in Minnesota but they send their condolences and some memories. Wendy said that she especially remembers Charlie’s wit and wry sense of humor - always quick with the pun and the repartee. She said that he always made her feel special and like someone who could do things. The Moore house was always a welcoming house - our kids swam in their pool and played in their backyard as Wendy’s kids did over this 4th of July. As far as my granddaughters Emily and Sarah are concerned, the pool in the back yard will always be known as “Charlie’s pool.” Kari said that Charlie has been an ongoing steady fixture in her life and her landscape - someone who was always there, someone who teased her, encouraged her, who cared about her. And he must have - because along with Pat he attended her first 22 birthday parties. Kari remembers that he had a special way with animals and that our small black calico cat Baksheesh adored him - either that or it was his deodorant because whenever Charlie visited she would immediately jump in his lap and try to rub her head in his armpit.
- Friend It goes without saying that Charlie was my friend, my husband Bill’s friend, and a friend to our whole family. You can just look around and see that Charlie had many friends because he knew how to be one. We first met Charlie when Pat invited us for hamburgers and a swim when we arrived on Vassar Dr. one a hot September day in 1972 after driving for 4 days with 3 kids and a dog in a large moving van and an old blue station wagon. Charlie, of course, grilled the hamburgers. A couple of weeks later when we were mostly settled in I wanted to return the favor so invited Pat and Charlie for dinner - but on a Sunday night so Charlie had to work the next day. We had a great dinner and really hit it off - lots of laughter, wine flowing, and conversation into the late hours. Early then next morning as Bill walked out to pick up the paper Charlie came pedaling by on his bike. His words were short and to the point “Damn you Rundquist. Damn you!” We have been GREAT friends ever since! I am sure everyone in this room has a friends story about Charlie. He stood by people. He could be counted on. And he was interesting, witty, always had something of value or funny to add to a conversation.
I loved Charlie. He was my friend. I also admired him, especially in these last years after so much loss in his life. He didn’t give up. He didn’t stop living or retreat. In fact, he did everything about as well as could be done. He took care of himself, exercised, took on consulting projects, had regular lunches with friends, accepted nearly any invitation that came his way, and very importantly rescued Bingo from the pound who immediately rescued him right back. Bingo was never the best trained dog - as Charlie said of Bingo “I never could train any of the women in my life.” But Bingo was absolutely devoted to Charlie and took him on walks at least twice a day.
All of these things helped Charlie enjoy these last years but probably none of them compare to the ray of sunshine that entered his life when he hooked up with Mary Major. I don’t want to speak out of turn but before his involvement with Mary, Charlie had been very fond of saying that he had reached the point where all he could promise a woman was a good pillow fight. (Didn’t hear him talk that way too much over the last couple years...). Mary, you added everything that was wonderful to Charlie’s life - humor, care, travel, music, concern, companionship, family, food, love - a reason to get up in the morning. You are wonderful, your gifts of love and care for Charlie were wonderful, and we recognize and grieve your loss also.
Charlie lived a rich and full life - he made significant contributions to his family, friends, profession, community, nation, and developing countries. He was respected, he loved and was loved. He will be remembered and live on through this love. I would like to close with a similar thought written by Catherine De Vink in A Time to Gather. A Question of Love
In midwinter - I know not the hour,
and the darkness is without -
you speak, and your words hold me
skillfully, as with threads.
Yes, it is I swinging there
in heights of moon and star,
suspended by the word love,
this slender thread stronger than death.
posted by Rob Ryan @ 1:27 AM
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