Beth Moore, ardent feminist and longtime school district HR and IT expert, has died at 55
She was a natural organizer and achiever, colleagues said, and she celebrated her 30th year with the School District of Philadelphia in 2024.
Beth Moore, 55, of Philadelphia, longtime human resources and information technology expert for the School District of Philadelphia, authority on women’s studies, ardent feminist, and social activist, died Saturday, March 1, of cardiac arrest at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
Ms. Moore earned a master’s degree in women’s studies at the University of Cincinnati in 1993 and at first considered a career as a college professor. But she took a temporary recruiting job with the school district in 1995, found her niche in HR and IT, and never left.
In HR, she supervised the hiring and certification of teachers for years. In IT, she recently helped roll out a new payroll database.
She was a natural organizer and achiever, colleagues said, and she celebrated her 30th year with the district in 2024. “I was consistently blown away by how her mind worked, how she saw a situation, and how she thought about solutions,” a coworker said in a tribute. “She knew something about everything.”
She was also smart and friendly, and became a mentor to many. “She was the most confident person I’d ever known,” said her wife, Sheri Cole. “In a quiet way, she had a strong gentleness.”
Ms. Moore was an ardent feminist and social activist, and she championed opportunity and equality. In college, she helped the Women’s Action Collective organize campus protests and marches.
“She married her best friend, who is equal to her in all ways when it comes to lifting up the women in their lives and supporting the causes they held dear.”
Her master’s thesis was called “Girls With Guns,” and she had a tattoo on her left forearm that read “Deeds not words.” A longtime friend said in a tribute: “She lived her feminism in all the spaces she occupied and was able to integrate it into all parts of herself.”
She studied the women’s suffrage movement, collected women’s history memorabilia, and posed for a photo with Hillary Rodham Clinton at a Saturday matinee of Suffs on Broadway. “Beth taught us to be nasty women, to know our worth and strength, and that we can do anything we put our minds to,” a friend said. Another friend said: “Beth led by example and made us all want to be as fearless and as certain of the right path forward as she was.”
Ellen Elizabeth Moore was born Aug. 3, 1969, in Richmond County, Ga. Her family moved to Vineland when she was young, and she nurtured a lifelong group of friends and became enthralled by Duran Duran singer Simon Le Bon.
She graduated from Vineland High School in 1987 and earned a bachelor’s degree in English at Rutgers University’s Douglass College in 1991. She met Sheri Cole at Cincinnati, and they became lifelong friends and married platonic partners in 2024.
“You are my soulmate, and the person I want to grow old with, even if we don’t share a bed.”
Their June 1 wedding at Citizens Bank Park before a Phillies victory was featured in the New York Times, and they described themselves as asexual and their relationship as a “life partnership based on friendship.” Ms. Moore told the Times: “We talk about all the same things. We were in each other’s pockets all the time.”
They lived in Collingswood in the 1990s and later on South Street, in the Graduate Hospital neighborhood, and then Center City.
Ms. Moore was a diehard Phillies fan who wore team gear regularly and went to World Series games. She wore goofy socks and was great at trivia and word puzzles. “This doesn’t suck,” was one of her favorite comments.
She liked cruises, books, concerts, movies, and Doctor Who on TV, and she took a memorable high school class trip to England. She doted on her cats and liked to write in all lowercase.
“This notion that everyone, no matter their race, gender, or orientation, deserves to be treated with the same considerations and granted the same rights and opportunities was fundamental to Beth.”
She seemed to be everybody’s best friend. “She would defend your hopes fiercely and defend your boundaries just as strongly,” a friend said. Another said: “Everyone loved her probably because she loved everyone.”
Her wife said: “We just were Sheri and Beth, Beth and Sheri. One word. Two parts of the same brain.”
In addition to her wife and many friends, Ms. Moore is survived by her mother, Mona, her father, John, and other relatives.
A celebration of her life was held March 16.
Donations in her name may be made to the Wardrobe, 444 North 3rd St., Suite 105, Philadelphia, Pa. 19123.