Funeral services for Alfred Garfield Shoemake of 225 Sixth St. will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. at Grays West & Co. Pioneer Chapel. He died Wednesday morning at the age of 88 at St. Elizabeth hospital after an extended illness. The Rev. James H. Soden of the Calvary Baptist Church will officiate.
Shoemake was born in Monroe, Tenn., the son of George and Mahalia Smith Shoemake. He had his early schooling in Cooekville, Tenn. In 1903 he married Nora Todd Shoemake in Cooekville. He wife predeceased him in 1944.
He came to Baker County in 1925 and worked for the U.;S. Government as a government hunter and trapper for many years.
He is survived by four sons, Earnest of Boardman, Robert and Oscar of Portland, James of Washington D.C.; four daughters, Mrs. Leo (Esther) Dougherty of Baker, Mrs. Frank (Madge) Mercer and Mrs. Walter (Ora) Olson both of Anacortes, Washington, and Mrs. Eugene (Helen) Webber of Portland; two brothers, Maynard of Crossville, Tenn., and McKinley of Monroe, Tenn.; 25 grandchildren, 36 great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.
He was also preceded in death by one son, Capt. Andrew D. Shoemake, who died in 1945 in a Japanese prison camp after capture on Batan and one daughter, Rosemary in 1926 and three brothers and three sisters.
Friends may contribute to the American Cancer Fund as a memoriam. This may be done at Grays West and Co. The casket will not be opened following the service. Friends who wish may call at Grays Pioneer Chapel until 9 p.m. Friday. Interment will be in the family plot at Hillcrest Cemetery in La Grande.
Source: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, February 27, 1970, page 2
Contributed by: Sue Wells