Obituary of Kenneth R. Moore

Promoted to Glory on September 19, 2025 at the age of 95.  Ken is survived by his children Brian (Desmond), Jim (Michele), Sharon (Mario), grandchildren Jaime (Brian), Michael and David (Jim), Kristen and Scott (Sharon) great-grandchildren Emma and Ayden (Jaime). Predeceased by his wife, of 74 years, Marie, (2025) his brothers Herbert Ritson (1988) and Leonard Moore (2009)

 

     Ken was born in Niagara Falls, Ontario and began his musical career at the age of 8, when he was introduced to the cornet and piano.  When he was 13 his father sent him to a professional teacher.  In succeeding years he concentrated on competing in music festivals on the trumpet, winning 55 awards and many scholarships.  He studied under a number of outstanding trumpet teachers, including James Burke of the Goldman Band and Charles Colin in New York City.

 

     Ken has played with many top professional organizations, including the Toronto, Hamilton and Ottawa symphony orchestras and has been featured as a trumpet soloist on both the Canadian and British Broadcasting Corp. Networks.

 

     After Secondary School in 1948, at age 17, Ken enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force as a musician and was assigned to the RCAF Air Transport Command Band, Toronto, where within a year, he became the principal cornet soloist, a position he held until his transfer 13 years later.

 

    While in Toronto he studied music composition, conducting and performance at the University of Toronto and the Royal Conservatory of Music under Professors Robert Rosevear and Gordon Delemont.

 

    In 1950, Ken married Marie and she moved from Niagara Falls to Toronto to be with him.  During that time they had 3 children before being transferred, in 1961, to the RCAF Central Band in Ottawa.  At age 32 he was commissioned and appointed the Director of Music.

 

     In 1968, following unification, Ken became the Director of Music of the Canadian Forces Air Transport Command Band in Kingston.  During his years in Kingston he  taught Trumpet and Secondary Brass at Queen’s University.  Ken, a member of the Canadian Band Directors’ Association, was elected to membership in the prestigious American Bandmasters’ Association in 1971 and served on the board of Directors.  At that time, he was only the fifth Canadian to be so honoured.

 

     In 1975, Ken was appointed the Director of Music of the RCMP Band in Ottawa.  He held this position until his retirement in 1986.

 

     Ken is a third generation Salvationist and throughout his life has attended the Salvation Army Corps in the city in which he was working.  Over the years he played with the West Toronto and later Dovercourt Corps as a cornet soloist on a number of records.  He also served as the Bandmaster of the Parkdale Citadel Band in Ottawa, Kingston Citadel Band  and the Woodroffe Temple Band in Ottawa.  Ken and Marie are currently members of the Ottawa Citadel Corps.

 

    After retiring in 1986,  Ken was in demand as an adjudicator, conductor and clinician at National / Provincial and State music festivals and Universities.  In 1993, he formed the Centralaires Concert Band in Ottawa.

 

  Ken and Marie have spent their retirement travelling throughout Europe and Canada and the U.S. with their camper trailer. They moved into the Empress Retirement Home, in Kanata, in 2018.

 

    The family will be having a private memorial for Ken and Marie.