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The Life Of Jerry J. Moore


mkultra25

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I meant to post this when I read about it a couple of weeks ago, but forgot about it until now.

Former strip-center tycoon Jerry J. Moore died at the age of 80 the week of Thanksgiving, apparently of pancreatic cancer. Those who were around in the 1980s will undoubtedly remember the ubiquitous property management signs posted at the many strip centers he owned around town, featuring his name in a flamboyant cursive script and his coat-of-arms. He also had the finest collection of classic automobiles in Houston until John O'Quinn got into the hobby in a big way some years later. Moore ultimately lost control of his real estate empire after experiencing financial difficulties, and subsequently pared down his car collection and closed the nondescript-looking museum that displayed some of its most glittering specimens on a rotating basis.

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u106/davegarrett_photo/jjm.jpg

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Yep, he will be sorely missed in the Car Collector world. The guy had some of THE best and rare Muscle Cars out there.

I can't help but notice that his obituary has no mention of his parents. Gee. I wonder why. You guys can remember him for his car collection if you want. I'll remember him for what he did to his own mother and father. As I recall, he evicted them from a house he owned at the time. I don't remember the details, but it did attract a lot of unwanted attention for Moore.

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I can't help but notice that his obituary has no mention of his parents. Gee. I wonder why.

You guys can remember him for his car collection if you want. I'll remember him for what he did to his own mother and father.

Oh yeah, how could we forget what Jerry J. Moore did to his own mother and father. Wait, what did he do to them?

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I can't help but notice that his obituary has no mention of his parents. Gee. I wonder why.

You guys can remember him for his car collection if you want. I'll remember him for what he did to his own mother and father.

I never said that ?

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Well had it not been the car collection I would have not gotten in touch with several people responsible for me doing a book on retail petroleum history. His collection not only preserved Packard but several hard to find even today well restored gasoline dispensers one being a very early model #3 Gilbert and Barker indoor/outdoor pump.

Ed Shaver, scrubba

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My apologies to TJones for putting my original heading in a box that had your name on it.

I didn't realize it would end up looking as if you were making the posting. I realize it now though.

Nice revenge. Are we even?

I will happily take mine down for you, if you would recipricate. :D

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Yep, he will be sorely missed in the Car Collector world. The guy had some of THE best and rare Muscle Cars out there.

He apparently had quite a few Ferraris as well - a yellow 330P4 replica (in the loose sense of the word - it certainly didn't have the 3-valve, twin-cam 4-liter engine of a real P4) he owned was on display several years ago at the annual Wooden Keels and Classic Wheels classic car/wooden boat show out at the Lakewood Yacht Club. And I think I've seen a couple of his Cobras at various car shows as well.

As impressive as the array of Packards, Duesenbergs, V-12 & V-16 Cadillacs, and others like them at his Antique Car Museum was, I always couldn't help but feeling a bit disappointed that he never set up a similar place to display his exotics and muscle cars. How cool would it have been to have a local museum with a pack of HemiCudas all lined up?

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He apparently had quite a few Ferraris as well - a yellow 330P4 replica (in the loose sense of the word - it certainly didn't have the 3-valve, twin-cam 4-liter engine of a real P4) he owned was on display several years ago at the annual Wooden Keels and Classic Wheels classic car/wooden boat show out at the Lakewood Yacht Club. And I think I've seen a couple of his Cobras at various car shows as well.

As impressive as the array of Packards, Duesenbergs, V-12 & V-16 Cadillacs, and others like them at his Antique Car Museum was, I always couldn't help but feeling a bit disappointed that he never set up a similar place to display his exotics and muscle cars. How cool would it have been to have a local museum with a pack of HemiCudas all lined up?

What I liked about him is that he would buy and sell the muscle. He had opened a store down on 45 south somewhere, last I heard.

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I remember a story that he bought a French Villa, and had it disassembled and moved to River Oaks-anyone know if there's any truth to that?

He was one of the wealthier guys in the country back in the day.

He wasn't doing too bad in today's market either. I haven't heard about a Villa being moved though. All I ever heard him move was some iron.

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He wasn't doing too bad in today's market either. I haven't heard about a Villa being moved though. All I ever heard him move was some iron.

He did live in a semi-French looking house off of Memorial just outside the loop on Friar Tuck; just down the street was where AJ Foyt used to live. The fortune came from buying up old strip centers, "rejuvenating them" with some fresh paint and jacking up the leases. I echo LunaticFringe's comments.

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  • 2 weeks later...
I can't help but notice that his obituary has no mention of his parents. Gee. I wonder why. You guys can remember him for his car collection if you want. I'll remember him for what he did to his own mother and father. As I recall, he evicted them from a house he owned at the time. I don't remember the details, but it did attract a lot of unwanted attention for Moore.

I think I'm going to research this a bit. Somehow I believe it. He actually looks mean. Check out the obit pic. A true measure of a man is how he treats his family, not how polished his car collection is.

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  • 1 month later...
Here is an article, I know the house just recently was for sale again and in the MLS listing they claimed it was taken apart and rebuilt, but apparently it wasnt true.

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories.../26/story2.html

great pics here.

http://www.eaglere.com/photo_gallery.asp

For only half a mil ? That sounds like a sweet deal.

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I think I'm going to research this a bit. Somehow I believe it. He actually looks mean. Check out the obit pic. A true measure of a man is how he treats his family, not how polished his car collection is.

Check out this recent article and thread in our local Houston Press. Let's just say that local opinions of Mr Moore are "mixed." He was not universally loved or respected.

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/20..._moore_obit.php

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  • 3 months later...
I can't help but notice that his obituary has no mention of his parents. Gee. I wonder why. You guys can remember him for his car collection if you want. As I recall, he evicted them from a house he owned at the time."

Actually "as you recall" means you probably don't know.

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I remember a story that he bought a French Villa, and had it disassembled and moved to River Oaks-anyone know if there's any truth to that?

He was one of the wealthier guys in the country back in the day.

There was a French villa on Friar Tuck in Memorial. It was rumored to have been brought over brick by brick. Is that the one you are thinking of? When I was young I was friends with a neighbor that lived down the street from it. We didn't know who lived there, just that they were considered very mean. Terry and I were only ten years old and we heard all that. Funny, Terry's dad was a race car driver, so you would think that if this Moore guy was a car enthusiast, he would have been nice to him.

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As I recall, he evicted them from a house he owned at the time."

Actually "as you recall" means you probably don't know.

No, I meant what I said. "Recall" means the same as "remember."

I remember him being in the news when it was learned that he had evicted his elderly parents from a house he owned.

There wasn't anything "illegal" about it, but it didn't make him look good. If he cared what the public thought he never said a word publicly.

I grant you it probably wouldn't have been "news" if it had been anybody but the high-profile real estate tycoon/antique car collector Jerry Moore.

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