Robert Madison Moore

Robert Madison Moore, who founded the International Banana Association in 1983 and served as president and chief operating officer of the Washington DC-based trade group until his retirement in 1999, died Tuesday, January 17 at South Seminole Hospital in Sanford, Florida. He was 86. A New Orleans native, Mr. Moore earned his undergraduate degree at Tulane University and held law degrees from the University of Virginia and New York University. He served with the U.S. Army in Europe during World War II, enlisting before the age of 18. Early in his career Mr. Moore worked as a special assistant to the Louisiana Attorney-General and maintained a private law practice. In 1957, he joined Standard Fruit and Steamship Company, and rose to the position of general counsel and secretary. In 1968, when Castle & Cooke. Inc., a leading producer of food products, purchased Standard Fruit and Steamship Company Mr. Moore served as general counsel and senior executive vice-president for the parent firm. During the course of his career at Castle & Cooke, he worked in New Orleans, San Francisco and Washington, DC.
Mr. Moore was active in the communities in which he resided. In New Orleans, he served on the Metropolitan Crime Commission and the board of governors for Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre. He also belonged to numerous other business and social groups. In recognition of his generosity, he was accepted into the Knights of Malta, an ancient Catholic order that serves the poor. Mr. Moore was also a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, the Pacific Union Club in San Francisco and the Cosmos Club of Washington DC. Robert M. Moore was the son of the late Anna Odendahl and C. Greer Moore of New Orleans. He is survived by Evelyn Moore, his beloved wife of 59 years, a daughter, Eileen Moore Wynne of New Orleans, a son, John Greer Moore of Florida and a grandson, Douglass F. Wynne Jr. of New Orleans.
A Mass will be said Thursday at 11 a.m. at Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home. Visitation will be from 9:30 a.m. to 11 and a reception will follow private interment.
In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made to the American Heart Association Memorial, 4217 Park Place Court, Glen Allen, VA 23060-9979.