Margery Moore Hanisee

Margery Moore Hanisee, chef, teacher, mother, business owner, world traveler, music aficionado, wife, grandmother, friend, and curator of life and the joy of living it, Margery Hanisee passed away on March 18, 2021 at age 81, 34 years after the early death of her husband and best friend, Robert Quin "Bob" Hanisee, III.

A tour-de-force of human happiness and a lifelong lesson to others on how to live and appreciate our blessed time-each day of it-on Earth, Marge shared herself, her home, her time, and her exquisite cooking with most anyone she encountered. Most beloved to her was family, including her brother, David Michael Moore, who predeceased Marge, his wife Naomi Moore, Marge's children Miles and Erin Hanisee, their spouses Dana Hanisee and Andrew Smith, and the grandchildren she loved endlessly and unconditionally (and texted with frequently): Mason Smith, Hannah Smith, Julia Hanisee, Robert Hanisee, and Dylan Smith. In Bob's long absence, Marge's best friend was Erin, with whom she spoke and visited with daily (at times hourly) and to whom Marge's greatest gift is the example she was herself as a mother. Marge loved sharing playlists and spirits with Miles, as well as soups Dana cooked.

Hailing from the small town of Crowley, Louisiana, where she was the International Rice Queen in 1956, upon being married Marge moved to the then small town of Mandeville, Louisiana, where she taught high school English, worked as a director of a Head Start program, and raised Miles and Erin. The former parenting task was at times challenging but the latter was smooth sailing! They lived on the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain, in which the family could frequently be found on hot summer days. In 1986, Marge, Bob and Erin relocated to Taos, New Mexico, where Marge owned a local business buying and selling Native American jewelry and art. She traveled to most of the Reservations and Pueblos of New Mexico, befriended artists, and immersed herself in a culture unlike anything back home. She visited most states (in many of which she camped, and fly fished), many countries (in order of her preferred cuisine), and made the best gumbo most will ever taste, having learned the art from times spent cooking and sipping Heineken with her father, James Patrick Moore, Jr. She absorbed classical piano as taught and played by her mother, Marion Prieto Moore.

Marge is survived by her children, grandchildren, cousins, and more beloved friends than can be counted, which she somehow managed to keep making up until her death. There were none with whom she spoke who did not risk lifelong friendship and out-of-nowhere electronic communication, at any time and about any topic.

Marge was with her children and listening to Beethoven's Piano Sonata Number 1 in F minor when she passed, the only difficult decision (it was that or Bob Dylan) Miles and Erin faced. Marge had otherwise taught them everything they needed to know. She will be greatly missed and remembered frequently, always with a smile and a laugh.