Submitted by his parents

The Real Me‚ Written by Rich Moore

The real me is caring‚ kind and courteous‚ filled with emotion. Loving and doing anything I can for my friends. The real me is not afraid to tell you how it is‚ and be blunt when you ask. The real me most of all likes to have fun‚ whether it be bike riding‚ dirt bikes‚ camping or cruising around town‚ anything to have fun. But having fun is not possible without having someone to share it with. Whether it is a friend or someone a little bit closer. Without friends‚ I might not be so caring‚ so kind‚ so many emotions‚ and without friends‚ I don’t think that I could be The Real Me.

When Rich was 3 years old‚ we were on a camping trip‚ and as we were sitting around camp‚ Rich looked around and said‚ ‘we need to go and meet our neighbors!’ And the rest of his life was like that. Everywhere he went he made friends.

In his early years Rich loved to build forts and go-carts‚ dig deep holes and do many other adventurous things. He and his friends developed a clever way to run wire between their houses to create an intercom system. Their creativity never ended. In later years they would move on to working on motorized vehicles. Rich with the help of his friends and the school automotive shop‚ rebuilt his ’69 Ford Mustang which he bought and financed by working and saving money. Other high performance parts where added as Rich developed an interest for racing.

Reading was a deep love of Rich’s‚ especially before drifting off to sleep. The family looked forward to listening to mom read a book during long vacation drives to help pass the time‚ and distract Rich from asking ‘are we there yet?’ He also cherished music and was taught of it’s ability to sooth and bring people together. Rich took piano lesson for seven years‚ played the saxophone through middle and high school‚ and was self teaching the guitar and loved to sing. Rich also took pleasure in getting dressed up in a suit and attending cultural events in downtown Portland with his family and friends.

Rich grew up watching and helping his dad and grandfather‚ who where always building or fixing things. Rich collecting baseball cards‚ assorted car parts and a few other items‚ but his aptitude and interest was in doing things. Rich started working in high school. One of his career highlights was helping to recover NASA space shuttle parts from the recovery project.

Rich would call home‚ on his cell phone‚ when working out of town and would talk of his hopes and dreams. His sights were set on Forest Service pursuits and education in this field.

Rich’s sights were set on Forest Service pursuits and education in this field. 2002 was Rich’s first fire season‚ he talked a lot about his work‚ what it was like and all the different experiences he encountered. But the most striking thing he said‚ was how the people in the town’s near by where they were working‚ would show their appreciation for the work the fire crews were doing‚ and how he felt that what he was doing was making a difference in other peoples lives. To all of you‚ we would like to convey are heartfelt appreciation for your caring spirit.

From the first time we held our tiny blue eyed baby boy‚ he began to brighten our lives‚ now we say goodbye to a young man‚ who has given us 21 years of joy‚ pride‚ laughter and most of all love‚ a pearl has grown in our hearts that we will have with us for the rest of our lives.