Rayma Colleen Moore, a New Jersey bookstore owner who retired with her husband to New York City, died on October 4 at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan after complications from surgery. She was 94.
For almost 30 years, Moore owned and operated Christopher’s Books & Gifts, an independent bookstore in Summit, N.J. The downtown shop had a focus on children’s books; Moore created welcoming spaces for readers of all ages.
She herself was an avid reader. Several days before she died she was talking about the novel “Buddenbrooks” and how it had different meanings for her at various stages of her life.
Born March 15, 1929, in Galena, Kansas, Moore attended Joplin High School in Joplin, Missouri, graduated from the University of Missouri in 1950 and in 1964 earned a master’s degree from the Columbia University School of Library Science. By then she had moved in 1952 to New York City, where she met Frederick Moore when they both worked at the Fifth Avenue headquarters of The New York Public Library. They married in 1963 at Riverside Church in Manhattan. His high school teaching job took them to New Jersey, where they lived from 1963 to 2007. Then they retired to Riverdale; Frederick Moore died in 2011.
She will be remembered for caring about her dogs and later cats, plants, Turner Classic Movies, Indian food, and current events. She subscribed to four New York City newspapers, including the Riverdale Press.
Moore is survived by her daughter Melissa Fallon, of Harrison, N.Y., and son-in-law Michael Fallon; son Christopher Moore and son-in-law Willard Knox, of Manhattan; and two grandchildren, Ryan Fallon and Melanie Fallon, of Astoria, Queens.
A private memorial dinner is planned at a New York City restaurant.