The Reverend Berkley Moore—environmental engineer, musical scholar and hymnodist, settled and peripatetic preacher, and versatile polymath—died in Springfield, Illinois, on 4 January 2018, aged 85. Berkley was known for his scholarly curiosity and broad knowledge, from history to genetics to religion, and particularly music. He composed hymns and was an active member of the Illinois shape note singing community.

Berkley Leroy Moore was born on 7 August 1932 in Youngstown, Ohio, to James Berkley Moore and Lillian V.B. Moore. He earned a B.S. from Grove City College (PA) in 1954. After three years in chemical engineering research, he enrolled at Harvard Divinity School, earning an S.T.M. in 1960.

Mr. Moore was ordained by the All Souls Unitarian Church in Windsor, VT, on 14 April 1961. He continued serving that church along with the nearby First Universalist Church of Hartland until 1965, when he took another yoked call to Minnesota UU congregations in Virginia and Duluth.

Leaving full-time settled ministry, Berkley moved to Springfield, IL, in 1970, and began working as an engineer for the state’s Environmental Protection Agency. But he joined Springfield’s Abraham Lincoln UU Congregation and soon informally assumed many ministerial roles—preacher, pastor, and priest—until the church formally settled a new minister in 1981. The church remembers the Rev’d Mr. Moore’s arrival as a “turning point” in its history. After 25 years of such membership and service, the congregation named him Minister Emeritus.

At his death, Berkley was survived by his former wife Kathryn VanBuskirk, their sons James and Erik, his former wife and longtime friend Barbara Moore, and several nieces and nephews.

A celebration of life was held on 10 February 2018 at the Abraham Lincoln UU Congregation.