Eleanor Moore, First Female Pro Basketball Owner, Dies

Eleanor Durall Brown Moore, known as 'Ellie', has passed away at 84 due to complications from cancer. She was a pioneering figure in professional sports, becoming the first female owner of a major professional basketball team when she led the American Basketball Association's Kentucky Colonels in 1973. Under her leadership, the Colonels achieved significant success, including winning the ABA championship in 1975, and she was known for assembling an all-female board of directors. Moore was also instrumental in several charitable initiatives in Louisville, including funding the Actors Theater and supporting the downtown YMCA. She and her husband, former Kentucky Governor John Y. Brown Jr., were recognized as Hometown Heroes and were jointly inducted into the Kentucky Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998. A memorial service is scheduled for December 11.