TERREBONNE and LAFOURCHE Parishes, La. OBITUARIY for MOORE, CONNIE Submitted by: Louis Lavedan Published in Houma Today & The Daily Comet from Aug. 25 to Aug. 26, 2015 Died: Monday, Aug. 24, 2015 ============================================================================= Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgenweb.org/volunteers/copyright.shtml ============================================================================= MOORE, CONNIE ========== A photo is available for this file. Please go to http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafourche/obits/dateobits/2015/f1508.htm and click on the name of interest. ========== Connie Moore died Monday, Aug. 24, 2015, at her home in Galveston, Texas, after a lengthy battle with ovarian cancer. She was born April 3, 1956, in Shreveport to Joseph Eloy Moore and Betty Jean (Wheeler) Moore. A celebration of Connie's life will be held in Galveston at a later date. Connie leaves behind her devoted partner and wife of almost 30 years, Debra Hunt of Galveston. She is survived by her stepdaughter, Lina Hollis and husband, Michael, of Pasadena, California; daughter, Andrea Vasquez and husband, Efrain, of San Antonio, Texas; sisters, Jerilynn Moore Thompson and husband, Mitchell, of Houma, and Gail Moore Mire, of Houma; sister-in-law, Tracy Mitchell, of LaPorte, Texas; mother-in-law, Martha Hunt, of Kingwood, Texas; six grandchildren; 10 nieces and nephews; two great-nieces; and two great-nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, Joe and Betty Moore; and her father- in-law, Joe Hunt. Connie spent her early childhood in Marshall, Texas and Jackson, Mississippi, before her family settled in Houma. The youngest of three sisters, Connie graduated from Vandebilt Catholic High School in Houma, and received her bachelor's degree from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston. One of her favorite summer jobs during college was when she was hired by J.C. Penney to ride a bicycle across the United States from New York to San Francisco. Following college she eventually migrated to Baton Rouge where she met and married her first spouse, Roland Schmidt. Although Connie's first marriage ended in divorce it gave her a lifelong relationship with her stepdaughter, Lina. After spending a few post-college years working in the hotel and then insurance industries, Connie decided to pursue her childhood dream of being a lawyer. She obtained her law degree from the University of Houston Law Center in 1986. It was there that she met her life partner and second spouse Debra Hunt. Together they established their law practice, Moore and Hunt, in Houston, and were in practice together just one week shy of 28 years. As an attorney, Connie found her calling in representing LGBT clients in custody litigation, adoption and surrogacy matters. Connie was well-known for refusing to take "no" for an answer. Time after time she would find a way to get to "yes" where previously it did not exist. She devoted her professional life to ensuring that the definition of family was never limited to one narrow perspective. Hundreds of families all over Texas credit Connie with helping insure their family unit was legally secure. Many of those children she helped adopt are now successful young adults in college and starting their own families. Connie's life was not free from heartache. Early in her college years she gave up a child for adoption, a secret she kept from most of her family and friends well into adulthood. Thanks to the miracle of an adoption registry network she was reunited with her birth daughter, Andrea, in 2008. Through her relationships with her stepdaughter and birth daughter, Connie became a devoted grandmother known simply as "CC." It was not something she ever imagined for herself, but something she embraced fully, as she did most passions in her life. In addition to owning a successful law practice, Connie enjoyed traveling the world, organizing events, entertaining friends and family at her and Debbie's home in Galveston and performing with the Houston Pride Band. She especially liked "scrapping" with her sister, Jeri, and many Galveston friends, creating her own greeting cards and a collection of scrapbooks and memory books that memorialize her adventures and life experiences. Connie's family would like to thank Dr. Gwyn Richardson and the Gyn/Onc care team at UTMB-Galveston, nurse Celeste Marshall, health aide Roniesha Frances and the care team from A-Med Community Hospice and all of the friends and family members who assisted with her care during the last few months. Connie's family requests that memorial donations be made in her memory to: NCLR Connie Moore Family Law Fellowship, 870 Market Suite 370, San Francisco, CA 94102, or to the Houston Pride Band Carnes Brothers Funeral Home in Galveston, Texas, is in charge of arrangements ======================