George Ensley Moore witnessed incredible world events in his 96 years of life. He liked to tell people he was born the year the Titanic went down - 1912. He was born in Jacksonville, Illinois but the family soon moved to Nebraska where he spent his boyhood. He survived typhoid fever as well as the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, and he was a young witness to World War I.

At age 11, George began to learn the trade of printing at the Winside (Nebraska) Tribune. In those days, all type was set by hand. While still a teen, he became a member of the International Typographical Union. Just as the Great Depression began, he returned to Jacksonville to attend Illinois College, the school his father and grandfather had attended. He worked his way through college setting linotype for the Jacksonville Journal and working at a variety of jobs. After graduation - and during the Great Depression - George worked his way through medical school at the University of Chicago by setting type at the Chicago Times and other newspapers and by working in the Medical School Library. In 1934, George married his college sweetheart, LeeElla Shortridge. They celebrated an amazing 74 years of marriage.

Dr. Moore continued his medical studies in the pioneering field of psychiatry, but his training was interrupted when World War II broke out. Throughout the war, he served in the army as a flight surgeon and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Up to this time, soldiers' mental health had received little formal attention. Dr. Moore did groundbreaking work by organizing and directing psychiatric facilities for the Second Air Force that trained B17, B24 and B29 combat crews and support staff for the European and Pacific theaters. He received the Legion of Merit for this work.

After the war ended, Dr. and Mrs. Moore welcomed their first and only child, Deborah, and Dr. Moore began his career in psychiatry in Milwaukee, Wisconson. The Moores lived in Milwaukee for decades where they raised their daughter and subsequently were blessed with 3 grandchildren, Jennifer, Natalie and Mac.

During Dr. Moore's long career in psychiatry, he helped many people. Prior to World War II, medicine had few tools to treat mental illness, and there was a cultural stigma against admitting to mental problems - a condition that was just beginning to change after the war. For the first time, ordinary people sought help for problems, and for the first time drugs were being formulated and used effectively in the treatment of mental illness on a large scale. Throughout Dr. Moore's years of private practice, he studied and tried the innovative drugs and practices that became available for treatment of such illnesses as depression, schizophrenia and other serious mental illness. He also contributed by teaching at Marquette Medical College in Milwaukee. When it was time to retire, Dr. and Mrs. Moore's lives came full circle as they returned to Mrs. Moore's family farm near Jacksonville.

Submitted by: Deborah Mathies