Eugene M. "Gene" Moore (July 19, 1942 – June 14, 2016) was a politician who served both as

Cook County recorder of deeds The Cook County Recorder of Deeds was the recorder of deeds of county government in Cook County, Illinois until the position's abolishment in 2020. History of office The office was established in December 1872. Before this, the Clerk of the Cir ...

and as a member of the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 re ...

Early life

Moore was born July 19, 1942 in Baltzer,

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, the son of Sara Ella Burrell and Joseph Moore. When Moore was a young child, his family moved to Maywood,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. Moore would from then on be a lifelong resident of Maywood. Moore attended Maywood's Washington Elementary School. Moore graduated from

Proviso East High School Proviso East High School is a public secondary school in Maywood, Illinois which serves the educational needs of Maywood and three other villages within Proviso Township, Cook County, Illinois: Broadview, Forest Park and Melrose Park. It is th ...

. Moore earned a

football scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the United Stat ...

Otero Junior College Otero College is a public community college in La Junta, Colorado. History Otero College was established in 1941 and was named La Junta Junior College. Which was operated by the school district. In 1949, an election was held to consider propos ...

. However, an injury ended his football career at Otero, and he returned to Maywood. A family member, after Moore's death, would share their belief that Moore had left Otero Junior College mostly due to feeling homesick and desiring to return to his high school sweetheart, who he would eventually marry. Moore worked for some time with the

American Can Company The American Can Company was a manufacturer of tin cans. It was a member of the Tin Can Trust, that controlled a "large percentage of business in the United States in tin cans, containers, and packages of tin." American Can Company ranked 97th amon ...

in Maywood. He then began what would be a long career as an

account manager An account manager (AM) is a person who works for a company and is responsible for the management of sales and relationships with particular customers. An account manager maintains the company's existing relationships with a client or group of cl ...

Metropolitan Life Insurance MetLife, Inc. is the holding corporation for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MLIC), better known as MetLife, and its affiliates. MetLife is among the largest global providers of insurance, annuities, and employee benefit programs, wi ...

Early political career

In the 1980s, Moore became active in

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

politics. He first ran unsuccessfully be a Maywood trustee. In 1988, Moore was elected a Proviso Township trustee.

State Representative

Elected in 1992, Moore became the first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

to represent the 7th district in the

. Moore had successfully run in a district that had been

redistricted Redistricting in the United States is the process of drawing electoral district boundaries. For the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures, redistricting occurs after each decennial census. The U.S. Constitution in Ar ...

in such a way as to make it feasible for the Proviso area to elect a black representative. His candidacy received support from individuals such as then-

Cook County commissioner The Cook County Board of Commissioners is a legislative body made up of 17 commissioners who are elected by district, and a president who is elected county-wide, all for four-year terms. Cook County, which includes the City of Chicago, is the Uni ...

Danny K. Davis Daniel K. Davis (born September 6, 1941) is an American politician who is the U.S. representative from , elected in 1996. The district serves much of western Chicago, including the Loop. It also includes several of Chicago's inner western subu ...

. In 1998, Moore fended off a serious primary challenge by

Karen Yarbrough Karen Yarbrough is an American politician currently serving as Cook County Clerk. Elected on November 6, 2018, she is the first female and African American to hold the position. Yarbrough previously served as Cook County Recorder of Deeds from ...

. Also in 1998, he was elected Proviso Township Democratic

committeeman In the United States, a political party committee is an organization, officially affiliated with a political party and registered with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), which raises and spends money for political campaigning. Political party ...

, unseating Gary G. Marinaro. He would hold this party post in addition to his other offices until 2006, when he would be unseated from this party post.

Cook County Recorder of Deeds

In January 1999, Moore was appointed

, filling the vacancy left when Jesse White resigned to become

Illinois Secretary of State The Secretary of State of Illinois is one of the six elected executive state offices of the government of Illinois, and one of the 47 secretaries of states in the United States. The Illinois Secretary of State keeps the state records, laws, libr ...

. His appointment to replace White as recorder of deeds had been backed by county political heavyweights such as

John Stroger John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

and

John P. Daley John P. Daley (born December 5, 1946) is the 11th Ward Democratic Committeeman in Chicago, Illinois, a member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners ( 11th district), and the Chair of the Cook County Board Audit and Finance Committee. He has ...

. Moore would be elected outright to his first full term in

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, and subsequently reelected again to additional terms in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

and

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. Moore worked to overhaul the office's efforts to fight property fraud and theft. He also worked to modernize the data-collecting and processing capabilities of the office. In 2006, Karen Yarbrough defeated Moore to become the Democratic committeeman for Proviso Township. Yarbrough had previously unsuccessfully challenged Moore for the post of Proviso Township Democratic committeeman in 2002. Moore retired in 2012, with fellow Democrat Karen Yarbrough being elected to succeed him as Cook County recorder of deeds in that year's election.

Nonprofit work

Moore was active in local charities and organizations, including the Boys & Girls Club of West Cook County and John C. Vaughn Scholarship Fund.

Personal life

Moore was divorced from his former wife. Moore had three children, daughters Dowanna and Natalie and son Eric. At the time of his death, he had six grandchildren. Moore's primary nicknames were "Gene" and "Geno". Moore's chief hobby was said to have been

dancing Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire ...

Death

Moore died on June 14, 2016 in Maywood, Illinois of

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...

, which he had been fighting for a long time, and which had recently

metastasized Metastasis is a pathogenic agent's spread from an initial or primary site to a different or secondary site within the host's body; the term is typically used when referring to metastasis by a cancerous tumor. The newly pathological sites, then, ...

to his bones. His funeral, held June 17 at Maywood's Second Baptist Church, of which Moore had been a longtime member and had been

baptized Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

as a kid, was attended by more than 1,400 mourners.

Electoral history

Illinois House of Representatives

;1992 ;1994 ;1996 ;1998

Proviso Township Democratic committeeman

Cook County Recorder of Deeds

;

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Eugene Cook County Recorders of Deeds Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives 1942 births 2016 deaths Deaths from prostate cancer African-American state legislators in Illinois People from Maywood, Illinois 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people