By Sean Yoes
AFRO Baltimore Editor
syoes@afro.com
According to those close to him, Baltimore Colt legend Lenny Moore is struggling mightily with the loss of his beloved wife of nearly 44 years, Edith A. Moore, who was buried on March 27. She was 92.
Her funeral took place at Vaughn Greene Funeral Services on Liberty Road in Baltimore County. Because of physical distancing parameters in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, only 10 people were allowed to attend Mrs. Moore’s service.
Lenny Moore and his wife of nearly 44 years Edith Moore. (Courtesy Photo)
The two were married in 1976, and according to friends and family members, the couple was inseparable until her death. The Rev. P.M. Smith, pastor of Huber Memorial Church in Northeast Baltimore, who spoke at Mrs. Moore’s funeral, said the NFL Hall-of-Famer was the primary caregiver for his wife who suffered with Parkinson’s disease for the last 15 years of her life.
“And he did everything for her,” said Smith. “She became the reason for him living.” Smith, like countless others, was a big fan (“He’s always been my hero,” Smith said) of Moore, 86, the transcendent NFL halfback known as “the Reading Rocket,” (he was born in Reading, Pa.). But, all who know him understand he has been an even more towering figure as a man constantly counted upon as a leader in his adopted community of Baltimore. But, Smith witnessed Moore reduced to a shell of the vigorous, charismatic man he has been for so many decades during his wife’s funeral.
“They had to physically remove him from the casket. He was a broken man,” said Smith, who fears Moore is vulnerable physically and emotionally after the loss of his wife. Some family members share those concerns about their patriarch.
“It’s been devastating,” said Carol Herron, one of Moore’s daughters from his first marriage. Mrs. Moore had four children, three sons and a daughter from a previous marriage. Two other daughters from Lenny Moore’s first marriage, Terri Williams and Toni Bowser are also taking care of their father.
“One of us is always with him,” Herron said.
“He’s never alone.”