CONNIE MAE MOBERLEY
1947-2021
Connie Moberley passed away in her studio on January 12, 2021, in Houston with her family at her bedside. Connie was born on July 5, 1947, in Bay City, Texas, to Doris Bell Moberley and Oscar Rucks Moberley. Her father preceded her in death. Connie lived a LARGE life and is dearly missed by many friends and family, among them, her spouse and dance partner Pamela Kunkle Moberley, her girls, Lemaria and Laila Smith, mother, Doris Bell Moberley, sister and brotherin-law, Pat Moberley Moore, and Clifford A. Moore. She also leaves behind two uncles and cousins of the Frank and Nora Bell and the Oscar R. Moberley families.
Connie grew up in Matagorda, Tx, and attended Matagorda Elementary, Bay City Junior, and Senior high schools. She was well-liked by her peers, where she was active in school politics and elected “Class Favorite.” She has loved taking pictures since high school, where she filmed and took pictures during football games. A core group of college friends and Bay City High School friends gets together annually. Loving the outdoors, she spent time at the beach, surfing, waterskiing, riding her horse, and working the cows. She graduated from Sam Houston State University with a B.S. in Photography. Connie asked the university to mail her diploma since she and her sister Pat were invited to Honolulu to live on and sail with an all-girl crew, with plans of sailing to Japan. Connie stayed in Hawaii to teach photography for a semester at the University of Honolulu before returning to Houston. She started her business Photoworks, which specialized in commercial photography. She captured the Houston landmark Pennzoil building and furnishings in photo history. Connie installed the yellow school bus mural at the original Children’s Museum and the Houston skyline murals displayed for 20 plus years at the Veterans Hospital. She secured assignments such as photographing the Molybdenum mining process and shooting aerial photography of offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico while tethered to the helicopter. When hired to photograph Houston’s underground cistern before becoming a museum, she improvised lighting techniques to illuminate the area and get the perfect shot. Petersen’s National Photographic Magazine chose Connie as their photographer of the year in 1978, featuring her work and using one of her oil & gas related photos for the cover. After selling Photoworks, she freelanced and captured images in Spain, Russia, Europe, and the United States. In Connie’s spare time, she edited and published several books through her company Treeline Multimedia. Connie, her parents, sister Pat, and friends pioneered the Salt Grass Trail rides to the Matagorda County Livestock Show.
A memorial gathering is planned later in Matagorda, Texas. In place of flowers, the family suggests any memorial donations be made to The American Cancer Society or the Matagorda Methodist Church.