Robert Goldman Shoemake, 87, died March 26, 2008, at the Idaho State Veteran’s Home of causes incidental to age.
A proud native of the Gem State, Bob was born July 26, 1920, to Albert and Nora Todd Shoemake in the rural community of Castleford, Idaho. As a child Bob and his family moved to Oregon and Bob grew up in Baker and La Grande, graduating from La Grande High School in 1941. Anxious for more education, Bob enrolled at Oregon State University that summer to study Soils Engineering. He was able to attend OSU for one year before World War II caught up with him, and in July of 1942 he entered the U.S. Army at Portland, Ore. After Basic and Advanced training Bob was transferred overseas to a unit in Italy and participated in the battles of Naples/Foggia, Northern Apennines and Rome/Arno. His two-year tour of Italy ended in May 1945 when Bob returned to the United States for separation from the service on Oct. 10, 1945.
Several professions beckoned and he finally settled in as a Surgical Technician at the Veteran’s Hospital in Portland, Ore. The treatment and care of the sick and injured appealed to Bob and he proudly spent his entire adult working life at the VA Hospital in Portland. Portland had other attractions as well, and on Dec. 8, 1948 he married Shirley Ruth Buckley, a union that lasted for 40 years until Shirley’s death in 1988. This union produced a daughter, Pamela J., in 1955, currently a resident of Forest Grove, Ore.
In 1991 Bob tired of the Oregon winters and purchased a “snowbird” residence in Desert Hot Springs, Calif. He continued to enjoy his vacation home for many years until ill health forced him to settle in Corning, Calif. in 2006, and a final move to Boise in November 2007.
Bob is survived by his daughter and son-in-law Pamela and Ted Belden of Forest Grove, Ore., his granddaughter Chrystal Knight of Portland; his great-granddaughter Sirenity Dawn Knight, his great-grandson Hunter Robert Knight, his brother James Shoemake of Seattle, his sister Helen Webber of Palm Springs, Calif., his long-time companion Mary Lou Develter of Corning, Calif., and numerous nieces and nephews.
His parents, his wife Shirley, his sisters Easter, Madge, Rosemary and Ora Kate, and his brothers Ernie, Andy and Oscar preceded Bob in death.
Memorial services will be scheduled at the Veteran’s Cemetery in Portland later this spring.
Used with permission from: The Record Courier, Baker City, Oregon, April 3, 2008
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor