Baker City, Oregon
Oscar L. Shoemake, 72, a Baker City native, died June 13, 2001, at his winter home at Desert Hot Springs, Calif.
There will be a memorial service for him later at Willamette National Cemetery in Portland.
Mr. Shoemake was born on Sept. 12, 1929, at Baker City. He was the youngest son of Albert G. and Nora Shoemake of Baker City and later of La Grande. He recently had celebrated his 30th wedding anniversary with his wife, Gini, and friends.
An educator by profession, he completed his graduate work at Western Oregon University at Monmouth. He was employed by the Oregon Department of Education and later served as Malheur County School Superintendent at Vale.
After leaving the education field, he and his wife, Gini, owned and operated The Hitching Post, a well-known bistro at Boardman. While there, he became a serious golfer, hunter and fisherman. He loved athletic events.
As an avocation, golf was his first love and he never hesitated to practice and to enforce the Rules of Golf, even with family members who were prone to violate on occasion. They were told the best wood they carried in their golf bag was a pencil.
He was a star athlete while attending La Grande High School and Eastern Oregon College of Education (now Eastern Oregon University) at La Grande. He served during the Korean War with an Army hospital unit in Japan where he also was active in physical education and sports activities.
Survivors include his wife of 30 years, Gini; two sons, Jimmy Shoemake of Seoul, Korea, and Randy of Portland, a son, David, died earlier; three grandchildren and many nieces and nephews, living primarily in the Northwest; two sisters, Ora Kate Olson of Anacortes, Wash., and Helen Webber of Rancho Mirage, Calif.; and two brothers, Robert of Desert Hot Springs, Calif., and James L. of Bellevue, Wash.
Memorial contributions may be made to a charity of one’s choice or to a favorite anti-smoking campaign office.
Used with permission from: The Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, June 22, 2001
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor