Evalyn Wendt Moore was sworn in Dec. 17 as Richmond's mayor, succeeding her husband Hilmar Moore. In a public ceremony at the Richmond City Hall Annex, Evayln Wendt Moore was sworn in as Richmond’s new mayor. Mayor Moore will serve the unexpired term of her late husband Hilmar G. Moore, who served as the mayor for 63 years and was America’s longest serving mayor in office. The ceremony marked a new historical path for the city as Mayor Moore becomes the first woman mayor to serve. The term expires in May 2014.
Fort Bend County Commissioner of Precinct One, Richard Morrison, presided as she took the oath on a Bible that had belonged to her husband and was read each night. It was gifted by his older son, Hilmar Moore, Jr.
Mayor Moore, whose maternal grandfather served as a Fort Bend county judge, has deep roots in Richmond. Her parents, Billie Hunter and Jack Wendt, are active civic leaders on state and national levels and in the the community as well..Moore’s service to the city, county and state has included serving as president and as a docent of the Fort Bend County Museum Association, a trustee of the Southwest Cattle Raiser’s Association, an officer in the Richmond Garden Club, a member of the OakBend Hospital Board, and as a member of the Fulshear Cemetery board. She is currently active in the Friends of the Fort Bend County Historical Commission. She has been actively engaged in the rice farming industry with her sisters for many years.
Mayor Moore was appointed on the local government code, Section 24.026, which describes how a general law city can fill a vacancy. Richmond's two city commissioners, William H. "Bill" Dostal and Gary L. Gillen, appointed her to fill the unexpired term of Hilmar Moore.