Leonard W. Moore, founder and owner of Moore Industries-International, Inc., has passed at the age of 85 on Sept. 6.
Born November 26, 1933 in Hazelton, Iowa – where he attended elementary through high school – he later went on to Iowa State University, where he obtained a BS in Electrical Engineering.
Leonard W. Moore, 1933-2019
After graduating college he entered the Army in 1953 as a weapons guidance specialist and spent time at Fort Sill, Okla. and Fort Bliss, Texas. Moore then trained and taught soldiers how to operate, calibrate and repair various guidance and artillery weapon systems. This was when he realized he had a passion for instruments and control circuits.
In 1968 he founded Moore Industries-International, Inc. in North Hills, Calif. Starting out in a small office with one employee and a very small budget, Moore set out to design the most rugged industrial instrument solutions that he knew the industry needed.
He used to say that at Moore Industries “we are an engineering company that solves customer’s problems by manufacturing bulletproof solutions.”
Beginning with one instrument, the SCT Signal Converter and Isolator, Moore and his “troops” (the term that he used for the company’s employees) went on to design, build and support more than 225 different products that isolate, protect, convert, alarm, monitor, control and interface with any industrial or automation control and monitoring system.
Moore often said, “the best compliment we can get from our customers is that they forgot about our products or solutions because they performed so well that they just plain forgot they were ever installed.”
The resulting rugged M1 Tank design can be seen in most of the company’s products that are enveloped in solid aluminum cases instead of fragile plastic or polycarbonate housings.
In 2009 Moore was inducted into the ISA’s revered group of Honorary Members – individuals whose support of, and/or contributions to, the advancement of the arts and sciences of instrumentation, systems, and automation are deserving of special recognition. He was also a professional engineer, had a private contractor’s license and was a pioneer and cornerstone for the industry.
He is survived by his three sons: Tony and his companion Sonnie, Nick, and Chris and his wife Deanna; his grandsons Nick, Matthew, Justin and Christopher; and his longtime companion Christine Hulfish.
