CHARLESTON, W.Va. — U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) says she is proud of the legacy of her father, former West Virginia Governor Arch Moore, Jr.
“He fought hard. He worked hard. It was in his heart. He made mistakes like everybody else but, to me, he was a great man,” Capito said on Friday’s MetroNews “Talkline” as she reflected on the life of her father who died Wednesday night at the age of 91.
Capito is one of the three children of Moore and his wife, Shelley, who died last year. Her siblings are Arch A. Moore III and Lucy Moore Durbin. She said the entire Moore family, friends and people throughout West Virginia have been sharing stories, in recent days, about her Dad.
“That’s the nice thing about closure to a life, any life, but (especially) a public life, is to be able to hear all the wonderful, small ways both my Mom and Dad, but particularly my Dad, influenced a lot of people,” she said.
“It was very interesting,” she said when asked about growing up in the Moore household. “(There were) A lot of highs, some lows and a lot of good life lessons, I think.”
Capito said her Dad was a “forceful” individual. “He had a booming voice,” Capito remembered. “I was recounting with my brother today, I said, ‘Remember, we would say, ‘Dad, you’re yelling.’ And he would say, ‘No, I’m just raising my voice.'”
Since last February, Moore had been cared for at an assisted living facility in Charleston. Dementia affected his mind, according to Capito. “I have a feeling he knew I won, but I couldn’t say for certain,” she said of her election to the U.S. Senate in November. “But, you know, he always was smiling.”
U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) extended his condolences to Capito and her family on Friday’s MetroNews “Talkline.” He said West Virginia may not see the likes of Moore again. “He was winning at a time when it was overwhelmingly a Democrat state,” Manchin said. “He was definitely a force.”
Capito said Moore truly loved the Mountain State.
“He always felt like our better days were ahead of us, that there were things that we could do. I think he was frustrated that he wasn’t able to do more but, I think, he just loved the state and its people,” she said.
For Capito, though, Moore was not a controversial political leader, a prominent Republican, a former congressman, three-term West Virginia governor or any of the other titles used to describe him over the years. For her, more than anything, Arch Moore, Jr. was ‘Dad.’
“Mom and Dad are together now. They’re in peace. I’m happy for that,” she said.