Laverne Berniece Moore

LaVerne Berniece Neiswender Moore
September 3, 1928 – March 12, 2024

LaVerne Berniece Moore, age 95, passed away on March 12, 2024, in Overland Park, Kansas. The eldest daughter of Carl and Marie Schmalzried, LaVerne was born on September 3, 1928, in Dighton, Kansas. Throughout her life, she was a beloved and devoted daughter, sister to eight siblings, wife, mother, grandmother, aunt, pediatric nurse and consultant, college professor, colleague, and friend.

After graduating from Dighton High School, Berniece attended the University of Kansas, where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing in 1952. It was there that she met Roland Dale Neiswender, and they were married on December 26, 1949, in Dighton. During their residency in the Kansas City area, Berniece was a Staff and Head Nurse at the University of Kansas Medical Center. It was there that she began her life-time nursing career specializing in Pediatrics. After relocating to Topeka, Kansas, she continued working in Pediatrics for Stormont Vail School of Nursing, where she also served as an instructor and developed and implemented the initial Pediatric Nursing curriculum. She also did the same for the Fairview Hospital School of Nursing in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After the family moved to the DC Metro area in 1965, she became a Pediatrics Instructor for Children's Hospital of D.C. (now the Children's National Hospital). In addition to teaching, she returned to school and received a Master of Science degree in Nursing from the University of Maryland in 1968. Her expertise in nursing and her love, not only for children but for teaching pediatrics to nursing students, resulted in her appointment as an Assistant Professor in Maternal-Child Nursing at The American University School of Nursing in Washington, DC in 1968. She was an extraordinarily gifted teacher, garnering accolades from her fellow colleagues, senior university officials, and her adoring students, receiving the Outstanding Teacher Award in 1972. She continued her work at The American University throughout the 1970s and into the mid-1980s until she retired. In addition to teaching, she was active with the Kansas League for Nursing, American Nursing Association, Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, and was a professional pediatric nursing consultant.

After retirement she and Roland returned to Dighton. After Roland passed away in 1987 she moved back to Maryland and married Harry Moore Sr. They spent their time between Upper Marlboro, Maryland and Dighton, Kansas until Harry's passing in 1993. She then returned to Dighton where she lived until 2014 before relocating to the Kansas City area.

While in Dighton, Berniece was active in many community activities, including the Lane County Historical Society, serving on the Society's Board, and as its Vice President (2002-2004) and President (2004-2006). She was known for her constant "can do" attitude, and could always be counted on to make delicious, homemade specialty sandwiches (Bieroks), cookies, apple pies, cinnamon rolls, and gallons of homemade ice cream for community and special events. She also loved growing and harvesting hundreds of peonies from her mother's and her and her sister's peony beds each year, which she and other family members lovingly placed on over 60 graves at the Dighton Cemetery for Memorial Day. She even found a way to extend the life-span of the flowers by picking them before the buds opened, wrapping them in newspaper in small bundles, securing them inside plastic bags, and keeping them refrigerated until they were unwrapped and would open up several weeks later. She would annually transport the flowers not only to the Dighton Cemetery, but would also keep some in an insulated cooler and drive them over 1,100 miles to the East Coast to be used in Arlington National Cemetery at family gravesites.

An exuberant and enthusiastic KU alumni and basketball fan, she annually picked "her" Jayhawks to win the NCAA basketball championship. In addition to her enjoyment of sports, her love of traveling led to many solo trips across the country multiple times each year to attend family birthdays, reunions, weddings, concerts, drum and bugle corps competitions, and school and important events of her brothers and sisters, children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and friends.

Berniece was preceded in death by her parents, two brothers, Harold Schmalzried and Raymond Schmalzried, and two sisters, Luella Schmalzried and Janetha Girotto. Berniece will be cherished by all those left behind who knew and loved her, especially her daughter, Jill Neiswender Cottine of Olathe, Kansas; her son, Kent Neiswender (wife Patty) of Mt. Laurel, New Jersey; her grandchildren, Rachel Koehring (husband Travis) of Pearland, Texas; Karl Neiswender (wife Kristiana) of Williamsburg, Virginia; and Maria Neiswender of Mt. Laurel, New Jersey; her brothers, Marvin Schmalzried of Sarasota, Florida, and Donald Schmalzried (wife Beverly) of Johnson City, Tennessee; her sisters, Dorothy Lewis, of Watonga, Oklahoma, and Cleta Darlene Rogers (husband Lynn) of Centerville, Ohio; her sister-in-law, Georgia Schmalzried, of Plymouth, Michigan; her brother-in-law, John Girotto, of Sarasota, Florida; her stepson, Harry Moore Jr. (wife Cheryl) of Davie, Florida; her stepdaughter, Jean Nazzaro (husband Ned), of Alexandria, Virginia; her step-grandson, Richard Moore, of Houston, Texas; her step-granddaughter, Catherine (Kate) Terrill of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; her step-great granddaughters, Allison Terrill and Shannon Terrill, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; her 28 nieces and nephews, and many friends.

A graveside service will be held at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on Friday, August 2, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. Visitation will be held at Joseph Gawler's Sons, LLC, 5130 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. on Thursday, August 1, 2024, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Memorial contributions may be made to Dighton Christian Church, and the Lane County Historical Society, both located in Dighton, Kansas.

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