David Eugene Moore
May 20, 1953 ~ June 24, 2021
Watsonville, CA.
David E. Moore passed away June 24, 2021, at his home in Carmel Valley. David was born in Watsonville, May 20, 1953.
He attended local schools and lived most of his life in Santa Cruz County, where members of his family have resided for six generations.
David was originator and co-founder in 1980 of Superior Foods, a vertically integrated international frozen foods company headquartered in Watsonville. There has been no one more personally identified with the frozen food industry and with his company and professional relationships, or anyone more passionate about the marketplace than David Moore. He not only initiated many innovative approaches and important strategic alliances, he also developed enduring friendships that he cherished within the company, and throughout the industry.
Infused with enthusiasm and imagination regarding the
industry, and never completely taking time off from it, he nevertheless celebrated all matters culinary, and often hosted grand gatherings of close friends and family. During his early years he was a serious runner, and a relatively extreme downhill skateboarder, long after it was advisable… He played guitars from a great collection, not only to relax, but to stay sharp in an 80’s-90’s rock band. Never comfortable with the logistics of travel, he nonetheless frequently visited friends and associates and experienced the world. When he occasionally diverted his attention from frozen food journals and latest statistics, he immersed himself in Ancient History.
He was deeply moved and honored by his induction into the American Frozen Foods Institute Hall of Fame in 2020, to stand beside many with whom he shared business and developed friendships over nearly 50 years. But his most important legacy are his children, Jeff and Lana. Amidst the whirling business world he inhabited, his relaxed and fun times at home with family and friends, in and out of the pool on a sunny day, were some of his very best.
David was predeceased by his father, Eugene (Gene) Moore, and is survived by his mother, Rose Marie (Sissy) Moore, children Jeffrey (Ashland, OR) and Alexandra (Watsonville), his wife Candi Lynn (Pacific Grove), sisters Sharon and her husband Paul, and Denise and husband Thomas, brother Scott and wife Linda, nieces and nephews; Grayson, Lanie, Brian and Michael, (all from Watsonville), close cousins Lyda Hayes (Gardnerville, NV) and Mateo Lettunich (Santa Cruz), and among many cherished friendships, Mary Zicarelli, Michael Vojvoda, and Virginia Panzich, as well as a growing extended family in Watsonville. A memorial is planned for late August.
(Submitted by Mateo Lettunich, lifelong friend, and co-founder.)
View the online memorial for David Eugene Moore
Published by Santa Cruz Sentinel on Jul. 8, 2021.