thedrifter
05-23-09, 07:51 AM
Moody boys remembered
By Callie White
The Daily World
Saturday, May 23, 2009 1:15 AM PDT
Two brothers, a son die close together, and family brings them home
The remains of four members of the Moody family were committed to Aberdeen’s Fern Hill Cemetery Friday afternoon in a flurry of red, white and blue. The ceremony was intended to honor the men, all members of the military or law enforcement, and with them anyone who serves their country and justice.
The military and local law enforcement agencies were on hand to pay tribute to the dead, three brothers and one son, all of whom had grown up in a tight-knit extended family with the greatest respect for each other, their community and serving their country.
“It’s the way we were raised,” said Chris Yeager, sister of Johnney, Ron and Jim Moody and aunt to Brad Moody, in an interview before the memorial service. “It was like ‘Leave It To Beaver.’ ” Except the father was an Aberdeen cop, and the family had eight kids who roamed the neighborhood.
The fact that Johnney, 76, and Jim Moody, 55, died so close together — Johnney from a heart attack and Jim from complications from polio he’d contracted as a baby — were a heart-breaking shock for the Moody family. Yeager said she had a suspicion as to the real cause of Jim’s death: “He died of a broken heart.”
Broken because his son, Brad, 29, died responding to an emergency call in Richmond, Calif. Brad Moody, a police officer who was part of a K9 unit with his dog, Rico, and a member of the SWAT team, somehow lost control of his car and hit a telephone pole, Yeager said.
At a funeral primarily dedicated to Johnney, Jim and Brad, friends and family recalled the bright spirits and dedication of the men.
“There was a restlessness in (Johnney Moody),” said friend Larry Mulhauser. He said Johnney had gone to Korea as part of the Marine Corps Reserve and, with many other Harbor men, ended up in Chosin. Moody was one of the few to return, and one of even fewer to rejoin the Marines. Johnney went to Vietnam and trained other Marines at Camp Pendleton in Virginia. After his retirement he lived in Central America, and finally along the Panama Canal, where he died.
“He was the meaning of gung-ho,” Mulhauser said.
Ron Germeaux recalled running for class president against Jim Moody at Robert Gray Elementary School. He thought he had a good platform, echoing President Kennedy with, “Ask not what your school can do for you, ask what you can do for your school.” Unfortunately, he said, he lost to the superior slogan of, “Howdy Doody, vote for Jim Moody.”
“My brother Jim was always tops in everything he did,” Yeager recalled.
Jim Moody was a “Yell Duke” at Aberdeen High School, and in his honor three cheerleaders placed a yellow flower adorned with a navy “A” by his picture.
Joe Avila, a Richmond police officer, said he recalled the day he met Brad Moody, a skinny rookie.
“I thought, ‘That kid’s not going to make it.’ Then he smiled and I thought, ‘That’s not going to do at all,’ ” Avila recalled. But Moody’s happy nature helped him connect with his fellow officers and the members of the community he patrolled.
“I can honestly say that he was one of the finest officers I ever had the pleasure to work with,” Avila said. As Avila and other officers got to know Moody’s parents, they learned to love Jim Moody.
“Betty (Jim’s wife) has about 200 sons now,” Avila said. He added that Brad’s organs went to people who needed them.
“I take great comfort in the fact that there are people walking and living because of Brad’s sacrifice,” Avila said.
Though Ron Moody was not mentioned, he was in the Marines, where he served as a lieutenant colonel. He was 64 when he died in 2003.
At the cemetery, a Marine honor guard fired a 21-gun salute and a bugler played Taps as Air Force and Marine Corps soldiers unfurled and refolded American flags over the box that held the cremated remains of all four men.
Yeager said it cheered her heart to see her brothers and nephews in the family plot.
“I promised mom I’d bring them home,” she said. “The whole family will one day be together.”
Ellie
http://www.thedailyworld.com/content/articles/2009/05/23/local_news/doc4a17972298270132243483.jpg
By Callie White
The Daily World
Saturday, May 23, 2009 1:15 AM PDT
Two brothers, a son die close together, and family brings them home
The remains of four members of the Moody family were committed to Aberdeen’s Fern Hill Cemetery Friday afternoon in a flurry of red, white and blue. The ceremony was intended to honor the men, all members of the military or law enforcement, and with them anyone who serves their country and justice.
The military and local law enforcement agencies were on hand to pay tribute to the dead, three brothers and one son, all of whom had grown up in a tight-knit extended family with the greatest respect for each other, their community and serving their country.
“It’s the way we were raised,” said Chris Yeager, sister of Johnney, Ron and Jim Moody and aunt to Brad Moody, in an interview before the memorial service. “It was like ‘Leave It To Beaver.’ ” Except the father was an Aberdeen cop, and the family had eight kids who roamed the neighborhood.
The fact that Johnney, 76, and Jim Moody, 55, died so close together — Johnney from a heart attack and Jim from complications from polio he’d contracted as a baby — were a heart-breaking shock for the Moody family. Yeager said she had a suspicion as to the real cause of Jim’s death: “He died of a broken heart.”
Broken because his son, Brad, 29, died responding to an emergency call in Richmond, Calif. Brad Moody, a police officer who was part of a K9 unit with his dog, Rico, and a member of the SWAT team, somehow lost control of his car and hit a telephone pole, Yeager said.
At a funeral primarily dedicated to Johnney, Jim and Brad, friends and family recalled the bright spirits and dedication of the men.
“There was a restlessness in (Johnney Moody),” said friend Larry Mulhauser. He said Johnney had gone to Korea as part of the Marine Corps Reserve and, with many other Harbor men, ended up in Chosin. Moody was one of the few to return, and one of even fewer to rejoin the Marines. Johnney went to Vietnam and trained other Marines at Camp Pendleton in Virginia. After his retirement he lived in Central America, and finally along the Panama Canal, where he died.
“He was the meaning of gung-ho,” Mulhauser said.
Ron Germeaux recalled running for class president against Jim Moody at Robert Gray Elementary School. He thought he had a good platform, echoing President Kennedy with, “Ask not what your school can do for you, ask what you can do for your school.” Unfortunately, he said, he lost to the superior slogan of, “Howdy Doody, vote for Jim Moody.”
“My brother Jim was always tops in everything he did,” Yeager recalled.
Jim Moody was a “Yell Duke” at Aberdeen High School, and in his honor three cheerleaders placed a yellow flower adorned with a navy “A” by his picture.
Joe Avila, a Richmond police officer, said he recalled the day he met Brad Moody, a skinny rookie.
“I thought, ‘That kid’s not going to make it.’ Then he smiled and I thought, ‘That’s not going to do at all,’ ” Avila recalled. But Moody’s happy nature helped him connect with his fellow officers and the members of the community he patrolled.
“I can honestly say that he was one of the finest officers I ever had the pleasure to work with,” Avila said. As Avila and other officers got to know Moody’s parents, they learned to love Jim Moody.
“Betty (Jim’s wife) has about 200 sons now,” Avila said. He added that Brad’s organs went to people who needed them.
“I take great comfort in the fact that there are people walking and living because of Brad’s sacrifice,” Avila said.
Though Ron Moody was not mentioned, he was in the Marines, where he served as a lieutenant colonel. He was 64 when he died in 2003.
At the cemetery, a Marine honor guard fired a 21-gun salute and a bugler played Taps as Air Force and Marine Corps soldiers unfurled and refolded American flags over the box that held the cremated remains of all four men.
Yeager said it cheered her heart to see her brothers and nephews in the family plot.
“I promised mom I’d bring them home,” she said. “The whole family will one day be together.”
Ellie
http://www.thedailyworld.com/content/articles/2009/05/23/local_news/doc4a17972298270132243483.jpg