Rep. Shelley Moore Capito announced Saturday the death of her mother, former West Virginia First Lady Shelley Riley Moore. She was 88.  

“Our mother was a wonderful, warm, and loving person,” Capito said in a joint statement with her two siblings. “She loved us and our children intensely, and she passionately loved her husband Arch, with whom she shared a beautiful marriage of 65 years.”  

“She was deeply honored to serve as First Lady of West Virginia for 12 years,” the children said of their mother. “Her loyalty to her family and her friends was unmatched. We miss her warm and comforting touch, but know that she is at peace with the Lord at her side.”  

Capito disclosed to the Charleston Daily Mail last year that her mom suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.  

She had a daughter in Congress and had been a congressional spouse when her husband, Arch Moore, served in the House from 1957 through 1969. The Republican went on to become West Virginia’s governor.  

Moore met her future husband at West Virginia University, an institution of which she was “an ardent fan,” her children said in the statement.  

Capito has described her parents’ marriage as a passionate one. “He still looks at my mom like she’s the girl he met in Morgantown,” the congresswoman said last year.  

Arch Moore was governor in the 1970s and 1980s, but met his political downfall when he lost re-election in 1988. In 1990, he pleaded guilty to a handful of federal corruption charges and served more than two years in prison.  

“My mom was just a champ through the whole thing,” Capito told C-SPAN in 2005. “I don’t know how she kept her chin up really, because it was more difficult for her and my dad.”  

Despite the legal drama, the Moore family remains is a dynastic force in West Virginia politics , and Capito is the favorite to win the West Virginia Senate race this fall.  

Capito’s mother also was her namesake.  

During the C-SPAN interview, the congresswoman explained that the name “Shelley” is a 13-generation maternal family tradition. Moore was the 11th “Shelley,” Capito was the 12th and Capito’s daughter is “Shelley XIII.”  

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