Pat Moore, 1933–2022

A stellar Hempstead personage

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Alice Patricia Moore, a Hempstead lawyer, politician, and activist, died September 14 at Oceanside Care Center. She was 89.

Moore was known professionally as A. Patricia Moore, but friends called her Pat. She was born April 4, 1933, in Orange, New Jersey. Six months later, her family moved to 30 Seitz Ave. in Hempstead, which became Moore’s lifelong residence. Her only sibling, Emily, born in 1937, became an internationally known nutritionist and died in 2012.

Moore graduated from Hempstead High School in 1951. She took a bachelor of arts summa cum laude from Hofstra University in 1955, and a master’s in history from Columbia University in 1956. She taught social studies at Island Trees High School in Levittown, Amityville High School,  and John F. Kennedy High School in Plainview, and was an exchange teacher in Bristol, England, during 1963.

In 1972, Moore switched careers. She earned a law degree from Hofstra University and practiced with the Legal Aid Society in Kew Gardens, Queens. In 1977, she and three other Legal Aid lawyers founded Cooperman, Harding, Mulholland, and Moore, handling wills, estates, elderlaw, and incompetency matters. Ultimately, the firm became Harding and Moore, and James Harding continued as Moore’s legal colleague and law firm partner until her death.

As her career progressed, Moore was admitted not only to the New York State Bar, but also the federal courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts, the U.S. Court of Appeals Second Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court. She held membership in both the Nassau County Bar Association and the New York State Bar Association.

Always active in Hempstead Village, Moore joined the League of Women Voters, was for a time secretary of the Hempstead NAACP, was very active in the Hofstra University Alumni Association, and served as president of the Hempstead Chamber of Commerce.   

She and John Van Buren, a Black professor at Hofstra, became the first Democrats — and Moore the first woman — elected to the village board of trustees, serving 1979–1983.

In 1981, Moore ran for mayor against George Milhim, garnering 48% of the vote. She acted as Special Counsel for Intergovernmental Affairs for the Village of Hempstead until the early 2000s.

Moore was the Democratic commissioner on the Nassau County Board of Elections from 1982–1985, and was also the state committeewoman for the 18th Assembly District. As founder and president of Celebrate Hempstead Village 350, Inc., she mounted an award-winning 350th anniversary celebration in the form of a two-day street fair on Nichols Court in July 1993.

In 2014, the village inducted her to its Wall of Fame at Kennedy Memorial Park.

Moore attended both St. George’s Episcopal Church in Hempstead and St. John’s Episcopal Church in Lynbrook, and regularly participated at Holy Cross Monastery in West Park, New York.

It was Moore’s wish that her remains be cremated. A memorial date is set for Saturday, Oct. 15, at St. George’s Church, 319 Front Street, Hempstead. Her cremains will be present. Those who wish can pay their respects from 10 to 11 a.m., with a service immediately following. Moore’s cremains will then be taken for interment in the columbarium of Holy Cross Monastery.