By Joseph Allen
Senior Counsel Stanley Alfred Moore, was laid to rest last week after a career that spanned some 50 years.
He died on March 31 at his Kitty, Georgetown home. He was 87 years old. Moore reportedly had been ill for some time.
Family members, colleagues, friends, and well-wishers all gathered at his residence to pay their respects.
Moore was born on July 1, 1935 in New Amster-dam, Berbice, to Olive Isabella Walcott-Moore and Llewellyn Cornett Moore. At age two, the family relocated to Thomas Street, Kitty, and George-town. He was married to Cheryl Moore and was the father of five children.
After completing his legal studies, Moore was accepted to the Bar on July 25, 1970. His practice took him beyond the Caribbean and as far as the African continent to Botswana and Swaziland (now known as Eswatini).
His career saw him serve in the role as a Minister of Home Affairs, and a judge. In 1990, he was appointed Attorney General in Montserrat, and in 1992, served as a Supreme Court judge in the Eastern Caribbean, spending his first stint in Grenada until 1996, and the second in the British Virgin Islands until 2000. Moore also joined the Commonwealth of The Bahamas Supreme Court.
Family
Stabroek News interviewed Moore’s wife, Cheryl and his daughter, Susan, for insights into his personal life. They both agreed that he was a mentor, teacher, self-motivated, loved the law, sports, and of course, his family, and did whatever it took to ensure they were properly educated.
“As a family person, he loved family. He would do anything for his children. He made sure that they got their education, whatever he could afford, whatever sacrifice he had to make,”
She added that he would love telling stories, mostly about village life in Kitty, how things have changed, and how he taught some of the villagers in his home, since some could not have afforded schooling at the time.
In his younger days, he loved to drive out of town each weekend with his family to visit new places and this enabled them to learn more about their country. He also loved telling stories to his kids and would often act out the parts.
The Law Life
Cheryl pointed out that her husband loved the cri-minal law more than civil proceedings and viewed the practice of law as his version of sports
“You know what he told me. He said work is his sport, doing the law. As matter of fact, he retired so many times but he always ended up coming back.”
His love for the profession even had him working shortly before he passed away.
“Even during his treatment, he appeared in court virtually. As a matter of fact his last appearance in court was the 28th of February and he died on the 31st of March, one month later.”
According to his daughter, Susan, he would have loved for all of his children to have been lawyers.
When describing his actions in court, she said he was a flamboyant person who gestured a lot.
“He was flamboyant. I remember the first time I went to see him court, he was like an actor; he enjoyed the theatrics, and so, you know he is one who always talks with his hands. He was very eloquent in his delivery.”
She noted that he was very descriptive and had a flair for the English language. He also cared deeply about his clients and some of them have stuck with him over the many years.
In addition to wanting all his family to enter the practice of law, he also convinced quite a few persons to enter the profession. Once such person was Justice Courtney Abel, a retired judge of the Belizean Supreme Court.
“I think of him more as a mentor. He was a professor of the law and before he became a professor of law he taught law and most of his students have done well,” Susan added.
“Teaching was his love, and anyone interested in law, anybody that wanted to do law, he was happy to talk to them and talk them into doing law because he loved the law so much.”
Apart from the love for law, the family noted that Moore loved sport and was at one time the president of the Guyana Amateur Box-ing Association, served on the board of World Boxing Federation and also officiated at several boxing tournaments, including the Olympics.
“Aside from the law sports was his thing. He was a commentator, he did commentary for boxing, cricket and football,” his daugheter related
The family also recalled that he loved calypso and would often sing at the top of his voice.
According to his wife, her husband Stanley died peacefully at home with his family. He had always expressed the wish to spend his last days in the home where he raised his family.
“The room was filled with love; it was warn, I played his classical music and he was comfortable.”
She noted that in his last moments, he expressed the sentiment that he had had a full life.
“He said he had a full love, he had a good life, he said he had a good career. He could not have desired more. He was very satisfied.”
