Willy De Moor

Willy Hector Marcel De Moor, age 77, of Wayne, passed Monday, November 23, 2020.

He was born to Roger and Andrea De Moor in Waregem, Belgium and moved to the United States when he was about 2 ½ years old.  The family settled in Lavonia, Georgia. Willy’s parents were unhappy in the United States and moved back to Belgium but there was no work to be found and they soon moved back to the United States.  This time they settled in a home at 26th and 6th in Paterson, New Jersey. Willy went on to graduate from Eastside High School where he played on the football team and was voted “Most Athletic.”

Much of Willy’s working career was spent in the retail industry.  He worked for stores such as Alexanders, Kmart, and Kids R Us for many years. Eventually he purchased his own business and was the proprietor of Pilgrim Liquors in Verona for several years before retiring in 2018.

Willy met the love of his life while working at K-Mart.  Mary De Matteo worked in the offices at K-Mart and Willy was a buyer.  He spotted Mary and said “that woman is going to change my life!”  Their first date was to a Mexican restaurant in Pelham, New York. They married at St. John The Baptist Church in Yonkers on August 15, 1982 and they honeymooned in Acapulco, Mexico. They have had a loving and caring marriage of thirty-eight years. Many would say they were “cute together.”

Many who knew him will remember he was a loving, family man who didn’t like being told what to do!  One of his favorite sayings was “I hate this!”  When Willy didn’t like something there was no gray area.  He hated some very specific words too: dating, closure, passing away, and TRUMP. He truly enjoyed an evening cocktail and enjoyed reading, music and stamp collecting. Willy was a sports fan and enjoyed watching the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pittsburgh Pirates. He would talk about how the first football game he saw was the NY Giants vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers.  The Giants won but Willy thought the Steelers were trying so hard his heart opened to them and never let go. He also enjoyed watching his children play sports and was the dad who would yell out the moment everyone else seemed to go quiet. He was also the dad who would ask the referee where he put his seeing-eye dog and would start singing "turn out the lights, the party’s over" when his child’s team was inevitably going to win.

Willy was the loving husband of thirty-eight years to Mary De Moor; devoted father of Debra and her husband Kurt Ludwig of Milltown, Diana and her husband Jordan Brown of Wayne, Joanna “Joni” and her husband James Audenried of Wayne, Michael De Moor of Wayne; he was the cherished grandfather of Sara, Allie, Jack, Luke, James, and Daniel Will.