Monday, April 02, 2012

Victor J. "Ump" Moore, Erie County Sheriff

Victor J. Moore was born in Sandusky, Ohio on April 20, 1896, to George and Sarah Moore. His nickname was “Ump.” On April 26, 1918, he enlisted in the United States Army. He served with Company A of the 308th Engineers during World War I, and was honorably discharged from military service on January 21, 1919. The biographical sketch in Patty Pascoe’s book Elected to Serve states that Victor J. Moore had been a prominent football player for Sandusky High School, and he also played for the Sandusky Maroons and the Esmond football teams. Victor “Ump” Moore is the third man from the right in the front row of the team picture of the Maroons from 1923.

In his twenties Moore worked as a lifeguard at Cedar Point, at the same time Knute Rockne worked at the amusement park. (It was at the Cedar Point beach that Knute Rockne developed the forward pass.) He served as Erie County Sheriff from 1932 to 1936, and later worked as the purchasing agent for the Ohio Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home, retiring in 1966.

An article by Bob Kinney in the Sandusky Register of February 13, 1970 reported that V.J. Moore was the youngest member of the “Last Man’s Club.” This group was begun by fourteen World War I Veterans in the 1930s. The group met only on Friday the 13th. The first meeting was held in Cua’s restaurant. One of the themes of the club was that the last man remaining was to open a champagne bottle, which had been with the men since the club’s beginning. Mr. Kinney wrote that there was also a “Last Man’s Club” comprised of World War II veterans, and a third club had also started up with another group of fifty veterans. Victor J. Moore died of pancreatic cancer on February 24, 1972. He was survived by his wife Alena, two sons, a daughter, a stepson, a stepdaughter, and several other relatives. Burial was at Oakland Cemetery.

The Sandusky Register article from February 13, 1970 listed these names as the last six surviving members of the original “Last Men’s Club:”

V.J. Moore

Dr. Frank Maher

Marc Freeman

William Ferback

George Eger

Dominic Cua
If our calculations are correct, the last man surviving from this group was William C. Ferback. He died on March 17, 1980 at the age of 91.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Victor J. (Ump) Moore was a important member of each team that he played on including Sandusky High and The Sandusky Maroons. He played Guard and Fullback on offense, and Guard on Defense, which meant that he played the entire game. He also did all the kicking and punting. Back in those days all field goals were done by drop kicking the ball, an art that long ago was done away with.

Anonymous said...

Victor J. (Ump) Moore organized the Lowell C. Hein Post 2529 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Sandusky Ohio back in May 1932.

RTM said...

I recall my late father telling me stories about Ump Moore's exploits on the football field. Mr Moore also played football for Esmond Dairy.

Anonymous said...

Dr Frank Maher was my grandmothers uncle, he lived till 1979, not sure if he was the last man or not. Heard he was very friendly, had a house on Central Ave.