Hardwood Floors April/May 2024

IN MEMORIAM: MICKEY MOORE

Mickey Moore, a true legend of the wood flooring industry, passed away on January 27, 2024.

According to his obituary, Charles Michael “Mickey” Moore graduated from The Webb School in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, and attended Duke University for two years, completing his degree in Forestry at the University of Memphis in 1974. In 1981, he married Gloria Elrod Ash and became a renowned teacher and inspector for the National Oak Flooring Manufacturers Association (NOFMA). He traveled the world teaching master classes for technicians in the field. Moore became the technical director of NOFMA in 1988. He participated on numerous NOFMA and National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA) committees and contributed to technical publications for both organizations. His expertise was shared with countless students during NOFMA and NWFA schools over the years, which has an ongoing impact on wood flooring professionals at the jobsite and in mills today. Rusty Swindoll, who worked with Moore at NOFMA, says Moore was a natural teacher. “When I went in and asked him a question, Mickey would look at me and say, ‘Let’s go think about that,’ and he’d ask me a question. I’d look it up and come back to him and talk about it. He wanted me to look deep into anything I had a question about. He knew so much about wood, installation, sand and finish, and acclimation,” says Swindoll. Wayne Lee of Middle Tennessee Lumber met Moore as a student at a NOFMA class and later had the privilege of working with him as an instructor. He recalls a time when Moore joined him on a troubled jobsite. “He went into the crawlspace with a meter, camera, and a note pad. He would point out a concern and say, ‘Is that a guideline, standard, rule, or recommendation?’ While I felt like my fifth-grade teacher was calling me out in class to answer a question, he was teaching. Though we were in the crawlspace for hours, it felt like minutes to me because the knowledge was flowing faster than I could pick it up,” explains Lee. “Once we gathered the information, he spoke with the homeowner and shared his thoughts for a successful job. Then he shared the greatest words of wisdom that I have repeated over and over. He said, ‘Get the house ready for wood, then get the wood ready for that house.’”

Mickey Moore

Moore was widely known for setting the NOFMA standards for sizes, inspections, grades of flooring, and more. However, his obituary noted that his love for nature expressed itself in several ways, including that he was an avid hunter and fisherman. “Away from work, I discovered he liked to fish like I did. I went fishing with him several times. In the boat, there was no talk about wood – just about our families and what we are going to use to catch the fish,” shares Swindoll. “He was an all-around fun guy to be with. He knew so much that I never could get all of the stuff out of his head that I would have liked to have had in my head.” “I’ll always be grateful for Mickey’s willingness to go on the road with me when I started working for NOFMA. He was willing to teach me everything he knew about grading and inspecting wood flooring,” says John Forbes, director of manufacturer services for NWFA. “On behalf of NWFA and NOFMA, we send our deepest sympathies to his family and friends. The industry is and will continue to be better because of Mickey.” Moore has been accepted into the NWFA Education & Research Foundation's Legacy Scholarship Program. To make a donation in his honor, visit nwfa.org/scholarships.

the magazine of the national wood flooring association

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