‘Amazing people’: Family remembers Wichita veterinarian, daughter after fatal accident

Cathy and Robert Cummins were on their way home to Douglass from Wichita on Sunday, about three minutes behind their daughter and granddaughter, who were heading home after volleyball practice.

The Cummins stopped for an accident at the intersection of SW 150th Road and SW Santa Fe Lake Road in Butler County. An SUV had run a stop sign and collided with another SUV. It looked bad, he recalled, and got out of the car to help.

Then he realized the second SUV belonged to his daughter.

“I looked at the car and I thought ‘oh my God, this is Monica’s car,’ so I ran back and held Madi’s hand, but they were both gone,” Robert said.

Now the family is mourning both Monica Moore, 46, veterinarian and co-owner of a west Wichita animal clinic, and Madison Moore, 16, a sophomore at Trinity Academy.

Monica Moore: ‘A love for animals’

Monica Moore was raised in Douglass and spent a lot of time with her grandfather, Jack Wade, who was a dairy farmer.

“She was very, very close with her grandpa Wade,” Moore’s husband, Kyle Moore, said. “She’d interact with animals and loved being around them and that’s what led her into the veterinary field.”

Moore’s sister, April Horn, added: “Any stray [animal] that she found she was bringing it home and asking my parents for forgiveness, not for permission. She just always had a love for animals.”

After attending and playing volleyball at Southwestern University, Moore was drawn by her love for animals to Kansas State University, where she graduated with her doctorate of veterinary medicine in 2003.

While attending veterinary school, Moore convinced her younger sister April, who at the time wanted to be a pediatrician, to attend K-State and consider being a veterinarian as well.

“I babysat a lot growing up, and so kids were kind of my love and animals were her love,” Horn said. “She talked me into coming into vet school because she said ‘hey, just come up here and see if you like it.’ “

Horn added: “And she’s like, ‘If you go to vet school we can work together and buy our own clinic one day and work together for the rest of our lives.’ “

Those words came true when the sisters bought Wichita-based Sisters (Herndon) Veterinary Clinic in 2017 after having worked there for nearly a decade.

Moore was also a wife and mother to four kids. Her husband Kyle said the two had known each other since kindergarten and started dating when they were 15. They were born a month apart but were in different years in school because of the attendance cutoff date.

“She graduated high school first ... and went to go play volleyball at Southwestern for a year because she didn’t want to be far away from me,” Kyle Moore said. “Then when I graduated, we both went up to K-State.”

The couple were together for nearly 29 years and married for 24. They had four kids: Katelyn, Andrew, Kyler and Madison.

“She was an amazing mother,” Kyle Moore said. “They were both [Madison] amazing compassionate people.”

Madison Moore: excellent student, volleyball player

Madison Moore, like her mother, was a “fiercely intelligent, beautiful woman,” Kyle Moore said.

The 16-year-old was a sophomore at Trinity Academy, where she excelled in academics and was on the volleyball team.

She could be quiet when people first met her, but her father described her as the “most witty person I’ve ever seen or met.”

“This Christmas she went out and bought Christmas presents for all her siblings and wrapped them herself,” Moore said. “In typical Madison fashion, she cut the wrapping paper too short, so she duct taped it and told Katelyn [older sister] ‘I just want to be there when you open it because I want to see your struggle to get the duct tape off.’ “

Madison was the youngest of her siblings but older than Horn’s children, who are 10 and 7.

“Madison was like their big sister,” Horn said. “So of course they love Madi. She got to boss them around.”

She aspired to go somewhere cold and snowy and play volleyball like her older sister Katelyn.

Madison’s grandfather Robert recalled Monica’s family living with them for a short period while they built a house.

“When she was real little, probably like two or three, she would come downstairs every Saturday morning and watch cartoons while drinking choccy milk,” Robert said. “She called it choccy milk because she couldn’t say chocolate.”

‘We know they’re in a better place’

The sisters’ clinic was closed Tuesday and Wednesday after the accident. Dozens upon dozens of Facebook comments left on a social media post described Monica Moore’s compassion and care for animals and their owners.

“I have no words. Dr. Moore took loving care of my Tillie and I am heartbroken she and her daughter are gone,” one woman said. “It doesn’t feel real. I am so sorry to everyone who knew and loved her. Please accept my prayers for healing as you navigate this terrible loss.”

Another person added: “I am so sorry to hear this. Dr Moore was an amazing doctor and woman. She held my hand when I had to put my cat down and then always gave extra love to my ginger boys. Sending love and prayers to all.”

Horn said her sister was an amazing leader and mentor to her staff.

“The girls all looked up to her and if you needed an answer, you could ask Monica,” Horn said. “If it wouldn’t have been for her, I don’t know if I would have said ‘hey, yeah, I’m gonna go to vet school.’ “

Monica and Madison held their faith close.

“They love Jesus, and so we know that they’re in heaven in a better place,” Horn said. “They would want people to know that they had faith in Jesus.”