Dixie Lee (Hardt) Moore

Dixie Lee (Hardt) Moore died peacefully Sept. 3, 2021 in Spokane Wash., with her husband of 57 years James Moore at her side. She was born in Reardan, Wash. on Aug. 31, 1939 to her parents Bill and Laura Hardt.

Dixie graduated from Odessa High School in 1957. She grew up the only child on the family farm outside Odessa Wash. She attended Kinman Business School until she was hired by Jensen Byrd, left to raise her children then retired from the West Valley school district food service program. She helped her husband build a business from the ground up.

Dixie had a good heart and a joyful laugh. She loved orange cats, country music, dining out, playing cards, going to the casino and walking the mall and her hometown of Odessa.

Dixie loved her cousins. She grew up spending Thanksgiving and Christmas with her mother's only sibling (sweet Aunt Jean) and was especially close to her cousin, Nancy Ross. She enjoyed going to the Hardt family reunion to visit the many cousins on her father's side. She had a special relationship with cousin Shirley. They would tease each other about who was older (even though they were only 15 days apart). In later years, the girl cousins on her father's side "adopted" each other as sister cousins. She became close with her sister cousin Julie as she lived in Spokane and they were able to spend time doing things together.

Dixie loved seeing country concerts and was blessed to see many with her good friend Marge Graeber. She loved the Statler brothers, Alan Jackson and various country music stars but was unfazed by their fame. One time she saw country star, Crystal Gayle, in an airport bathroom. She walked right up to her and immediately asked how her sister, Loretta Lynn, was doing. Mom loved the spring when her tulips and daffodils were blooming, as well as picking fresh strawberries and sweet peas from dad's garden. Her grandchildren have fond memories of baking apple pies with her. She baked chocolate frosted chocolate cupcakes for Dad's lunchbox week after week. She made orange frosted Halloween cookies with M&M eyes, a candy corn nose and a silly licorice smile. She loved stretching a bag of chocolate chips when making chocolate chip cookies. If you had the cookie with the chocolate chip in it, you felt like a winner.

Dixie was preceded in death by her parents Bill and Laura Hardt, her Aunt Jean Parr, sister-in-law Barbara Moore White, nephews Roger White, Kevin LeBret-White and other numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins. She is survived by her husband James Moore, brother-in-law & sister-in-law Bill and Patti Moore children David (Nancy) Moore, Daniel Moore, Kate (Dan) Holland, her grandchildren (bio, step and claimed) Frankie Moore, James Holland, William Holland, Bobby Lester, Sean Lester, Jeremy (Andrea) Lester, and Kayla Wilson, her great grandchildren Hawthorn Moore, Makayla Lester, Sophia Lester, Beckett Smith, and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

This COVID world was hard on her. Thank you to those that were able to visit her; her loving husband, her children, Julie Reynolds, Karen Balfe, Marge Graeber, Joyce Rougle, James Holland, William Holland and a special thank you to Jane Harty and Dan Holland.

Graveside service will be Saturday, Oct. 2nd, 2021 at 2:30 pm at Greenwood Memorial Cemetery in Spokane Wash. In Lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Beats and Rhythms, PO Box 31522, Spokane, WA, 99223.