Tondra "Tonnie" Davidson Moose

Tondra “Tonnie” Davidson Moose, 80, passed away on Sunday, November 2, 2025, at Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center Emergency Room. 

Tonnie was born on March 12, 1945, in High Point, North Carolina, to Tom and Virginia Davidson. Tonnie grew up in Statesville, North Carolina, and graduated from Statesville Senior High School. She attended East Carolina University, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in Sculpture. After graduation, she moved to Atlanta, Georgia, to work for Gulf Oil Company. She returned to North Carolina, moving to Winston-Salem to teach art to special education students at Philo and Dalton Middle Schools. It was in Winston-Salem where she fell in love with her husband, Jim Moose, having reconnected after an initial blind date in Atlanta. Upon having children, she stepped away from teaching to stay home with them. Still needing to feed her creativity, Tonnie started her craft business called Tonnie Moose Designs. She designed and sold numerous candlewicking and cross-stitch design books as well as custom art pieces. She ultimately returned to teaching art at Wiley, Paisley, and Meadowlark Middle Schools before retiring with the birth of her first grandchild.

Tonnie was an incredible artist, and this passion for creativity extended beyond the classroom. She was known for her homemade Halloween costumes and her beautifully decorated Christmas trees, but she also enjoyed passing on her talents for any art project or craft asked of her. Her favorite pastime, though, was spending time with her close-knit family, especially on her annual beach trip to her favorite place, Siesta Key, Florida. Affectionately known to her grandchildren as GG Mom, she dedicated her retirement years to all things involving them. A survivor of breast cancer, she fought cancer with bravery, tenacious will, and determination that was a testament to the strong woman that she was. Tonnie had a passion for celebrating all the moments, putting others before herself, and never meeting a stranger. She taught her family that nothing was impossible and that what was most important was faith in God and time with each other. 

She is preceded in death by her parents, Thomas and Virginia Welch Davidson. She is survived by her husband James Mitchell Moose of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, her daughters Heather Moose Naper (Jeffrey) of Charlotte, North Carolina and Stacey Moose Smith (William) of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and her five grandchildren William Alexander Naper, Thomas Jeffrey Naper, and Matthew Davidson Naper of Charlotte, North Carolina and Sarah Yates Smith and William Bolling Smith of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

A funeral service will be held at 12:00pm on Saturday, November 15, 2025, at New Philadelphia Moravian Church. The family will receive guests prior to the service at 11:00 am in the Friendship Room at New Philadelphia. An interment will take place immediately following the service at God’s Acre. The family requests that attendees wear colorful attire in lieu of black to honor the joyful life of Tonnie. 

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to: The American Cancer Society at https://raiseyourway.donordrive.com/campaigns/In-Memory-of-Tonnie-Moose or New Philadelphia Moravian Church at https://onrealm.org/NewPhiladelphia24828/-/form/give/now. Please indicate the gift is “In memory of Tonnie Moose” in the Memo line.