ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Duane Milton (“Dewey”) Moore was born April 17, 1933, to William (“Dintey”) Moore and Beatrice (Whitlow) Moore in Rochelle, IL. He passed on October 18, 2024, in Albuquerque, NM. In 1951, he graduated from high school in Princeton, IL. He married Ruthie J. Seidel in 1953 and had two sons and one daughter. Dewey later married Shelley Roberts in 1990.

Dewey was preceded in death by both parents and two sisters. He is survived by sisters Rita Smith (Grand Junction, CO) and Gail Wofford (Hudson, FL), and brother Jim (Lois) of Ft. Myers, FL; wife Shelley (Albuquerque, NM); Ruthie (Galesburg, IL); sons Michael (Marcie) of Princeton, IL and Kevin (Deb) of Sparta, WI; daughter Susan (Doug) Chalgian of E. Lansing, MI; 7 grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren, and many cousins, nieces and nephews.

 Dewey attended Beloit College and the University of Illinois, where he earned his MS and PhD in Geology. He remained at the University of Illinois after receiving his doctorate to teach and work with the Illinois State Geological Survey. Dewey moved on to full-time teaching, one year at Marshall University in Huntington, WVA, and 24 years at Knox College in Galesburg, IL. At Knox, he was one of a small group developing and applying new approaches to teaching that explored how to learn, how to think critically, and how to apply new ideas to life. One colleague recalled, “I always considered Dewey Moore to have been one of the most effective teachers at Knox ... He was warning students (and participating faculty) of global warming [in 1969]. He had a great skepticism about human efforts to manipulate the environment, especially those efforts conducted by the Army Corps of Engineers.  He could reduce scientific issues to plain language, and on field trips, he was a great asset because of his ability to read the landscape and explain the reasons for its configuration in any place.”  Another described Dewey as “energetic…, occasionally outspoken at faculty meetings, and very active in interdisciplinary efforts.”

Dewey and another Knox professor developed an early “immersive” learning program in 1971 named “Farm Term,” where the students lived, studied, and worked on farms in the Driftless Area of SW Wisconsin. For research and teaching sabbaticals, Dewey sought opportunities at the University of Iowa, University of Chicago, and University of Illinois-Urbana. He received a senior Fulbright award for a sabbatical year teaching in Pakistan. Dewey returned to the Illinois State Geological Survey in 1987. After retiring in 2001 as a Senior Clay Mineralogist, he moved to Albuquerque and received emeritus status at the University of New Mexico.  He consulted in Argentina, Indonesia, and New Zealand.

Dewey was a member of the Geological Society of America and the International Clay Minerals Society, serving at times as president and historian, and received their Brindley Lectureship award in 2000. In addition to many papers, he also authored and published two books: a co-authored textbook and lab manual about Clay Minerals and a historically-based novel, Death on the North Rim. 

Dewey was very dedicated to his family and his students. He touched and influenced so many lives. Not only family and all those students over the years, but also the many he encountered from all over the world.  He loved being outside, whether it was field trips with his students, camping, hiking, birdwatching, and especially on his farm in Wisconsin.

As it was his nature to teach, share, and conserve, his body will be donated. Cremation will be accorded for any remains, with a family gathering for internment on the farm. If you would like to support his devotion to Mother Earth’s stewardship, gifts can be made to the Mississippi Valley Conservancy, which oversees his farm’s conservation easement. (1309 Norplex Dr, La Crosse, WI 54601   https://www.mississippivalleyconservancy.org/)