By DAVID STRUETT
Homicide Watch Chicago
Leroy Moore, a 70-year-old retiree of GE, is remembered by his son and nephew as a “happy-go-lucky” guy who could always be found by listening for his powerful laugh.
Howard Moore | Facebook
“If he was at a big party and you wanted to find him, all you’d have to do is stand there and listen for his laugh,” said Moore’s son, Shurone Moore. “His laugh was always the loudest.”
Leroy Moore was killed while walking back from a store with a friend in the Park Manor neighborhood on July 18. Two cars sped down the 7100 block of South State Street with people inside firing shots at each other, Chicago Police said at the time.
Moore suffered a gunshot wound to the chest and was taken to Stroger Hospital. He was pronounced dead at 8:53 p.m., authorities said.
“It was total shock, you know, and unbelievable pain,” said Moore’s nephew, Howard Moore, assistant basketball coach at the University of Wisconsin. “When my dad told me that my Uncle Leroy was struck by a stray bullet, it was the last thing I was prepared for.”
Moore loved to fish, and was always asking friends and family if he should bring them back catfish, Shurone Moore said.
“That’s the kind of person he was,” he said. “Always looking out for people. He truly will be missed. He was always a good dad, always there for us, always helping me and my friends out in any situation.”
He remembered how Moore had always supported his older cousin, Howard, who would become the head basketball coach at UIC. “He came to every game, he yelled the loudest,” Shurone Moore said.
Leroy’s son, Howard Moore | Facebook
Howard remembers that Leroy was there when he was sifting through college decisions.
“When I chose to go to the University of Wisconsin, he was the one who drove me up here,” Howard said. “My dad was in the passenger seat, but [Leroy] was the one that was driving.”
“You don’t really realize how much a person is in your corner, whether it’s a family member, friend, whatever, until something like this happens,” he said. “You look back and reflect on how much they were around, and how much they impacted your life.”
It has been a struggle to comprehend Moore’s death, Howard said.
“For someone to live for 70 years, and to work toward retirement, to earn the chance to retire and enjoy the rest of your life,” Howard said, “and to have it snuffed away like that is so unbearable. I just really struggle with this, this whole concept of how he was taken away from us.”
For Shurone Moore, gun violence has become an issue that demands wider attention.
“You’re constantly seeing more and more families going through this every day,” he said. “It’s a situation going on that needs to be dealt with, but it’s constantly being ignored.”
“People need to stop looking the other way,” he said. “It’s constantly going on. If you see something but nobody say nothing, that makes you part of the problem.”