ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: Mr. Charlie Moore, BC Class of 1955, needs no introduction

There’s an old adage throughout the Savannah community that “a Benedictine man needs no introduction.” That well-known, traditional saying certainly applies to Charlie Moore.

Moore seemingly needs no introduction, yet he can be introduced in a multitude of ways.

“That’s what I would like (to see) before I die,” said Moore, an Isle of Hope resident who will turn 88 years young April 6. “We have a long history with BC. I’ve received a lot of awards over the years, but that Gold Medal of Excellence means more to me than any of them. It really means a lot to me because I received a standing ovation from the Survivors’ Club. It was so surprising. My boys were there. I probably would’ve dressed more appropriately had I known. I had shorts on. It was a great honor, and I appreciate it. Of course, I never expected it. They awarded me a gold pass for all football games and baseball and other sports, other than when there are state playoffs, so that meant a lot to me.”

“I came to BC because of my older brother, Clayton,” Moore said. “He graduated in the Class of ’47. Was supposed to be in the Class of ’45 but he got drafted (for World War II) out of high school. There were six or seven (Cadets) who were drafted out of high school. He came back and finished in ’47. Can you imagine that happening today? He turned 18 on Nov. 9, 1945, and by Dec. 31, 1945, he was gone (into the Navy). That wouldn’t happen today. That’s patriotism. Thankfully, he was in the Navy, and he never made it to the front lines, but he made it to Okinawa. He wasn’t a pilot or anything. He was just a crewman.

“He was over here (at BC) and I was playing sports at Richard Arnold (School), right across the street," Moore continued. "I was always kind of fascinated with (BC Cadets’) dress whites and (marching in) the St. Patrick’s (Day Parade). I’m Baptist. I’m not Catholic. And neither was he Catholic. He brought me over to meet Vic Mell (a 1942 BC graduate who coached football, basketball, and baseball at BC from 1950-69) at a basketball game and he wanted me to come to BC, so I ended up coming to BC. Best thing that ever happened to me. I was always fascinated with BC playing (football) in the Thanksgiving game, even when (Clayton) was not playing. He was 12 years older than me so when he was at BC, at 18, I was only 6. I had another brother who came to BC for a while, but he dropped out and never finished high school. But he did well in life. He had a good job and everything, but he wasn’t a student.”

Moore and Sybil began dating when he was a sophomore at BC. She was a cheerleader at Savannah High School.

“Back then, when Benedictine would have a holiday, a lot of us boys would go roam the halls at Savannah High because we knew a lot of people over there,” Moore said, his eyes squinting as he laughed, and his trademark impish grin emerged. “There were a lot of guys there that I played baseball with in the summer, American Legion. I met her at the beach one day, at Tybee, and we just kind of hit it off. She’s always loved the beach, and, in fact, we own a home down there.

“My brother, Clayton, he had three boys who graduated from BC," Moore continued. "And he had a grandson or two who graduated from BC. And my sister, her husband graduated from BC. The Dillon family. They had a couple of boys who graduated from BC. I’ve got so many relatives who graduated from BC, I can’t keep track of them all. I’ve been tied up with BC my whole life. Even though we’re not Catholic, I’ve really enjoyed it. Made a lot of friends. There’s just nothing like BC. BC was a special place and is a special place.”

At BC, Moore was a quarterback in football and a pitcher in baseball. He earned Savannah News-Press all-city football honors for three consecutive years (1952-54). In 1953, Moore was selected as the Savannah News-Press Back of the Year. In 1954, he was an all-state football selection as a senior, as well as the 1955 recipient of the Ashley Dearing Award as the most versatile high school athlete in Savannah. During the summers, he also pitched the American Legion Post 135 baseball team to two state championships.

“People ask me sometimes … not very often … do you think you could play with the kids of today?” Moore said. “And I say, ‘Well, let me reverse the question. Do you think the kids of today could have played with us?’ Because see, when I played football at BC, my first and second year, we used to walk from 34^th & Bull (streets) to the big park, practice two or three hours, and walk back to school. Now how many would be willing to do that today? We did practice at Daffin Park some but most of the time we practiced at Savannah State. And that was a long ride back then. We’d practice out there and then get on a bus and go back, get dressed and go home. It was a lot different time. If I had to lift weights now, I’d lift weights. I’d do what they do.”

After graduating from Benedictine, Moore attended Furman University in Greenville, S.C., on a football scholarship. He lettered in football for two seasons (and baseball for three seasons) but decided to quit and return to Savannah.

“I quit football and came home,” he said. “I had gotten a job – I hadn’t reported to the job yet – and I got a call from one of the people up there, Mr. Scarborough. He was very active with Furman. He said, ‘You come on back and you’ll be on a baseball scholarship.’ So I went back my junior year and played just baseball.”

Moore returned to Furman and was an All-Southern Conference pitcher in both 1956 and 1957. But he never graduated.

“I made a big mistake,” he said. “My wife always says, ‘You didn’t have any direction.’ I always wanted to either play sports in my life or coach at BC. Back then, you could teach as long as you went to school in the summers to work on your degree. I was a math major. I went to Georgia Southern for three summers and then I went to work with my father-in-law in his business. You could teach on what they call a certificate, but you had to go to school and continue working. So that’s what I did. I should’ve finished school (at Furman). But I wouldn’t change a thing in my life. The Lord has been good to me. I’ve just had the greatest time, greatest family, good health. What more can you ask for? But, in reality, a college education would’ve just been … I’d have probably done the same thing, but on your resume it looks good. But anyway, that’s my story.”

After leaving Furman, Moore taught algebra at Benedictine from 1958-62.

“I see guys that I used to have as my students, and they love to shout at me, ‘I haven’t used that Algebra yet!’” he said, laughing. “I shout back, ‘But you’ve used your brain, haven’t you? That’s what Algebra does, it helps your brain.’

“We won the state championship in ’61 in baseball,” he continued. “Had some great players. I’ve never seen anybody win a championship without great players. When we won the state championship, we beat one of the premier programs in the state, Lanier High in Macon. We were very fortunate. Over the years, I never thought I’d go to so many funerals of my younger players. Out of all of that team, there’s only about four of us alive.”

In 1962, Moore accepted a job offer from his father-in-law and left BC.

“My father-in-law was in the home heating business but then he also got into the gasoline business,” Moore said. “They needed somebody else in the business, so I went to work with him (at Smith Service Oil Company) and eventually retired after 30 years. I was running the heating side. Then we bought a little business in Jesup, and I used to travel down there twice a week to check on it. Then we got into convenience stores. My son, Chuck, came to work for us for a little while. He helped build convenience stores and then he left and wanted to do something else. My father-in-law was from Ludowici. He didn’t want to stay in the (rural) country, so he came here (to Savannah) and opened him a little service station. He ran that for years and then he started selling heating fuel from his station. And then he got too big for both, so he just got rid of the station. It’s been a good journey. Different things.”

On April 8, 2002, BC alumni S.T. McTeer, Herbie Griffin, and Frank Finocchiaro created the Survivors’ Club as a way to bring their classmates together to reminisce about their days at the Bull Street campus. The initial classes represented were from 1938-44. Soon, word got out and the membership was expanded to include other classes. The one stipulation was that all new members had to have attended school on the original campus at 34^th and Bull streets.

Eventually, Moore and Henry Hall took over the day-to-day duties associated with the club.

“Herbie Griffin was a big part of it,” Moore said. “There were just a few of them that met at Johnny Harris (restaurant). Herbie Griffin, Frank Finocchiaro and S.T. McTeer, they started it. They invited me and Henry Hall to come to the planning. How I got started, I’d been going a couple of years, and it was agreed that I would take over for S.T.

“So, we were at Johnny Harris and S.T. was running the meeting, and he couldn’t get their attention,” Moore continued. “S.T. was a nervous guy. He was a wonderful guy. But S.T. couldn’t get their attention. He got kind of frustrated, and he said, ‘Come on up here, Charlie. Come on. You take over.’ So that’s how I started. Been doing it for at least 20 years. The thing that keeps me going … you know, I keep saying I want to get out of it … my wife don’t want me to get out of it. Some of the guys, every now and then, will come up and tell me what a good job I’m doing, and they appreciate it, and that kind of touches you. I enjoy it. My wife always tells me when I leave the house, ‘Now don’t embarrass anybody.’ We have fun. It's a big deal. I tell people about it. I lived at The Landings for 15 years and those people out there couldn’t believe what we do. They’re from schools in Massachusetts and Ohio, and they don’t have the camaraderie. They don’t have the closeness that we have.”