Loading...Ron Moore has lived parts of his life in some of the busiest cities in the world – Boston, New York, Chicago, Riyadh. Less than two years ago, he exchanged all that for a porch swing on 200 acres south of Maryville and became a parishioner of St. Andrew’s Church. At this year’s diocesan convention, he was affirmed as diocesan treasurer.
Before moving to BlountCounty, Ron lived for 31 years in rural New Hampshire fifty miles north of Boston, where he became involved with St. John’s Episcopal Church in Portsmouth, a large church where Presidents George Washington and James Madison worshiped. He served on the vestry as parish treasurer for eight years, as well as becoming active in the life of the diocese as member, then co-chair, of the clergy compensation committee. After the election of the Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire in 2003, Ron became diocesan treasurer, a volunteer post he held for six years.
“It was a magnificent opportunity,” he recalls of all those years of leadership. “As a vestryman, later a member of diocesan council, some role in twelve successive diocesan conventions, and on multiple committees, I was able to work in friendship with many wonderful people. It was all a huge blessing to me. Although this new call to serve as treasurer in our diocese was entirely unanticipated, it is already proving that not all the wonderful people live in New Hampshire, and my enthusiasm for developing relationships and participating in our good work is growing steadily.”
Ron lives on a farm his parents bought in 1960. Although her husband did not want to live on the farm, his mother dreamed of building a house and retiring to the farm. She fulfilled both dreams in the year following her husband’s death in 1993 and lived there until she died in 2010. It was one Sunday during a visit to his mother that Ron first came to St. Andrew's.
He purchased and moved to that farm in June 2012. The move has not been without its challenges, from a large 18th century home in New Hampshire to a much smaller house built 20 years ago. Half of his 200 acres alternately hosts winter wheat, soybeans, and field corn — a massive undertaking requiring huge equipment, GPS self-steering, and computerized everything.
“My job is to sit on the porch and watch it all happen,” Ron says.
