Eva Moss, aide to mentally disabled

When Eva M. Moss was in the Army in Alabama in the late 1950s, she was hurt by an episode of racism that she never forgot.

Stationed at Fort McClellan in Anniston as a member of the Women's Army Corps, she and some women military friends went into town to buy shoes.

"They were told to place the shoes next to their feet, but were strictly forbidden from putting them on" to see whether they fit, said daughter Melanie Burney, an Inquirer reporter.

"White customers would not purchase them if blacks had worn them," Burney said her mother was told.

"They went back to the base without buying the shoes," she said.

"Although she rarely talked about the experience, she never forgot the unfairness that blacks who loyally served their country endured."

On Wednesday, July 16, Mrs. Moss, 75, of Camden, a former training supervisor at the New Lisbon Developmental Center, died of lung cancer at Lourdes Medical Center of Burlington County in Willingboro.

Born in McIntyre, Ga., she grew up in Akron, Ohio, and graduated from South High School there in 1957.

After her military service, Mrs. Moss worked with the mentally challenged at Hawthorne State Hospital in Cleveland.

In 1969, she and her family moved to Mount Holly, and she became an attendant for mentally disabled men at New Lisbon, from which she retired in 1983.

"A loving single mother, she was selflessly devoted to her three children," Burney said. "They were the center of her life and she sacrificed so that they did not want for anything."

Secretary for her church in Akron earlier, she was most recently a volunteer with the food bank ministry at North Baptist Church in Woodbury.

The Rev. Wendell F. McGinnis Jr., pastor at North Baptist, said Mrs. Moss "was very faithful in attending church."

And as a member of the food bank ministry for the last five years, "she was very helpful and committed in serving the people of the community."

A skilled crafter, she enjoyed crocheting, sewing, and making quilts and jewelry, Burney said.

Daughter Andrea Robinson added, "My mom could make and do anything. She could sew delicate stitches in a quilt or fix a leaky pipe in the kitchen."

Besides her daughters, Mrs. Moss is survived by son William L., two sisters, three grandsons, and a great-granddaughter. She was predeceased by her former husband, John Moss.

A viewing was set from 9 to 11 a.m. Friday, July 25, at the First Baptist Church of Jericho, 981 Mail Ave., Deptford, before an 11 a.m. funeral service there, with interment in Brig. Gen. William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Wrightstown.

Donations may be sent to the Benevolent Fund of North Baptist Church, 1020 N. Evergreen Ave., Woodbury, N.J. 08096, or to http://northbaptistwdby.org.

Condolences may be offered to the family at http://carlmillerfuneralhomes.com.