To his son, Charlie Moore Sr. "was an older guy with a young man's swagger and passion, and just this fresh attitude about life that was simply beautiful."
To coaching rival Pete Pompey, the former Lake Clifton High basketball coach was "a true friend" and "as fierce a competitor on the court as he was happy-go-lucky off of it."
Charles Edward "Charlie" Moore Sr. died of a heart attack Wednesday afternoon in the bedroom of his Woodlawn home. He was 64.
Moore amassed a 221-66 coaching record in 14 seasons, including a Class 4A state championship at Lake Clifton in 1994-95.
According to Pompey, a longtime city coach now at Edmondson, Moore was "so friendly, full of love and life," but shrewd and "all business" as a coach.
"I called him Sunshine - that sums it up," former Lake Clifton star Kevin Norris said. "You can be down, mad, everything's going wrong - and he walks in and lights the whole room up."
And Moore didn't forget his players when they left Lake Clifton. He was the first to console Shawnta Rogers when the former All-Metro Player of the Year was not drafted by the NBA after graduating from George Washington.
"You loved him as a person the way he always put a smile on your face, no matter what you were going through. And the way he motivated you, you loved playing for him as a coach," Rogers said from France, where he plays for Le Mans in a professional league. "The last time I saw him, he looked so healthy, so happy. I can't believe he's gone."
A 1957 graduate of Dunbar, where he was a basketball star for legendary coach William "Sugar" Cain, Moore worked for the Baltimore recreation and parks department before going on to play two years each at Maryland State (now Maryland Eastern Shore) and Morgan State until graduating from the latter in 1965. It was at Morgan that he met Laura Jean Johnson, who became his wife of 37 years.
After graduating from college and another stint with the recreation and parks department, Moore began his coaching career with an assistant's job at Coppin State in 1974. After three seasons, he left Coppin to become an assistant basketball coach under Woody Williams at Lake Clifton, where Moore was also a physical education teacher. He took over as head coach at Carver in 1983 before replacing Williams as Lake Clifton's head coach in 1986.
Moore retired from coaching and teaching in September 1997.
And he made his decision in a style all his own: while sunning with his wife on a Caribbean beach in August.
