Grace Noel Tipps Moye

On this glorious day, October 11, 2023, Jesus stretched out His hand to gently escort Grace Noel Tipps Moye through the gates of heaven to meet her Lord and Savior.

A Celebration of Life Memorial Service will be held on Saturday October 28, 2023: Visitation from 11am-12 noon and Service at 12 noon at Melancon-Levingston Funeral Home in Nederland, TX, with a Celebration Fellowship Lunch immediately following at The Courtyard Café in Groves, TX. Grace would want to offer good food and hospitality for any event she was a part of.

Grace was born on December 16, 1943, in Port Arthur, TX, and named after her mother’s friend who was a published poet. She was the 4^th in line of 6 wonderful children born to Russell and Elva Tipps. When she was a young girl, the family moved right down the road to Groves, TX. The Tipps family was a pillar of the community and area owning multiple businesses, lived Christian values and stressed the importance of representing your family well which Grace was proud to do. She attended Port-Neches Groves schools where she was well liked, had many friends, and was known for her style, class and kindness. She was a cheerleader in high school as was so fitting of her encouraging attitude that never left her. She graduated PNG Class of 1962. She went on to attend some college at Lamar University and LSU. She loved her Port Neches-Groves Indians heritage. Despite the fact that Grace lived in Houston, TX, for more than 40 years, she never lost her love for her hometown area.

Grace worked as an Administrative Assistant throughout her life including jobs with the Army Corps of Engineers, Real Estate and Oil and Gas. She began working as a contractor for ExxonMobil Chemical Company after becoming widowed in 1988. The company immediately recognized her hard-working values and hired her as a fulltime employee where she worked her way up to the highest administrative level job and ultimately worked 25 years for ExxonMobil Chemical Company in Houston and retired at the age of 70.

Upon her death, her family found numerous reviews from former bosses going back to the 1960’s up to 2013 when she retired and the theme never wavered just as was her own character trait: “Grace is a very hard worker, she goes the extra mile, she is highly trusted, she is the first one to work, Grace is a team player in every sense of the word, leader, courageous, dependable, professional, responsible, trustworthy, fast worker, common sense, logical and a planner.”

Grace loved art of all kinds, she was a “foodie” and loved dining out in great restaurants and appreciated the art of cooking. She shared many times how her appreciation for interior design and gourmet food was taken to the next level when she moved to Baton Rouge, LA in the 1970’s. She learned all about the Acadian style, beautiful gardens, New Orleans Cuisine from River Roads Recipe book, classic interior design and Chinese Blue and White porcelain which she loved to collect and display. She loved her time living in Baton Rouge and was known to have developed her “Southern Style” there.

She was proud of her family heritage and spent many hours researching family lineage in the 1980’s in a real library, using legal documents, deeds and courthouse record in a time before the internet and Google searches. She learned she was a 6^th generation Texan and was proud of that fact. She then worked to obtain the declaration of “Daughter of the Republic of Texas” for herself, her daughter and her nieces.  Grace loved to say “we come from a long line of strong women”. She was strong, fierce and independent.

Grace loved to plan events in her job, for charity causes and get togethers for her family. She was an expert party planner including the best locations, her own home, best restaurants, proper seating charts, beautiful invitations, décor, gorgeous flowers, delicious gourmet food, tablecloths, starched napkins and nice china. It brought her great joy to use her natural gift. It also earned her the affectionate nickname “Aunt Fancy”.

She was generous with her financial resources as her family found many notes of thanks from family, charities and people in her life of which she never mentioned or disclosed.

Grace treasured her family most and worked her entire life to stay connected to them. She and her sisters known as the “Ya-Ya’s” had many fun get togethers, trips, family reunions and long talks on the phone. She was known for her card sending which many times included a generous gift: birthdays, graduations, weddings, baby showers, holidays, illnesses and just because.

In a paper her daughter discovered in her home upon her death, Grace wrote that “her greatest success in life was being a mother and a grandmother”. Grace was a dedicated Mother and Grandmother who instilled so many wonderful values and traits into her daughter and grandsons. This obituary could never fully describe all she contributed to their lives.

Grace was an overcomer and someone who set her mind to succeed at what she was determined to do. She made up her mind to recover from multiple falls including a broken neck and she did just that. Through surgeries, health issues, lung cancer and a recent dementia diagnosis, she never gave up!

On the last day of her life, she was still working hard at trying to maintain her independent life and ever the Administrative Assistant, trying to handle her financial business, printing out emails and working hard to “get er done” as she would say.

As she went to bed that night, she put on the Houston Astros that she loved to watch so much because “that Jose Altuve is a doll”, got under the covers in her coordinated boutique outfit, put on her fancy glasses to see TV and drifted off to sleep during that game and woke up in the arms of Jesus. God granted her mercy and grace.

She is survived by her daughter, Suzanne Moye Williamson and husband Zane Williamson of Johnson City, TN; grandson Caleb Moye Keith of Houston, TX, and Jacob Alexander Osbourne of Port Neches, TX.  A special thank you to Christina Angelilli (Caleb’s girlfriend) and Taylor Tommasi (Jacob’s girlfriend) for their kindness and support to Grace and her grandsons as they always tried to help their grandmother in any way they could.

Also survived by her brother Nolan Harris Tipps and wife Gayle Tipps of Nederland, TX; her sister Portia Tipps Kinney and husband Dale Kinney of Houston, TX; her youngest sister Rebecca “Beckie” Tipps Simpson and husband Rev. Mike Simpson of Houston, TX, and many surviving nieces, nephews, and cousins that she loved dearly.

She is preceded in death by her husband, Galen E. Moye; her parents Elva Harris Tipps and Russell Tipps; her sisters Jacqueline “Jackie” Tipps Goates and Gwyndolin “Gwyn” Tipps Carriere and brothers-in-law, Bruce Goates and Harold Carriere as well as many other loved ones.