Melvin Shoemaker
1948 - 2025
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Share Melvin Shoemaker's obituary with others.
Invite friends and family to read the obituary and add memories.
Melvin Lee Shoemaker was born in northern California on December 5, 1948, to parents Ruth and William Shoemaker. He was the younger brother of Gary and Kenny and older brother to Linda.
As an adult, Mel served in the civil service in Oklahoma during the Vietnam War where he learned to print. After three years of printing in Oklahoma, he returned to northern California and continued printing for another seven years before he began working in the logging business near the Pacific coast in his childhood home of Fort Ross.
Two sons were born to him in his twenties, Bill and Mike. Three more children came along during his thirties: Merrilee, Marshall, and Miranda. In his forties, he took on a new adventure with his family, moving back to his wife's home area. First to Huntsville, Arkansas, and then after a few years, Mel and family moved to his home of more than two decades in Pineville, Missouri. Along the way, he picked up sons-in-law and daughters-in-law and added them to the family.
Eventually, Mel found his way into the most defining role of his life: Papa. Mel distinguished himself with the ability to repair most anything, but those skills paled in comparison to his capacity to love his grandchildren.
After his retirement as foreman and sawyer in Neosho, Missouri, Mel spent his time fishing, camping at Beaver Lake and Roaring River, and being Papa—the man, the myth, the legend.
He is survived and remembered by his wife Marian, son Bill Shoemaker (Jennifer), son Mike Shoemaker (Kelly), daughter Merrilee Greer (Jeremy), son Marshall Shoemaker (Tracy), daughter Miranda Gibson (Chase), fifteen grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. A man of kindness, strong work ethic, integrity, and loyalty, he will be missed greatly among all who knew him.
A memorial service is planned for Friday, November 28, at 2pm at Roaring River State Park in Cassville, Missouri. A Memorial Service will be held on November 29, 2025, at 02:00 PM at Roaring River State Park 12716 FM RD 2239
As an adult, Mel served in the civil service in Oklahoma during the Vietnam War where he learned to print. After three years of printing in Oklahoma, he returned to northern California and continued printing for another seven years before he began working in the logging business near the Pacific coast in his childhood home of Fort Ross.
Two sons were born to him in his twenties, Bill and Mike. Three more children came along during his thirties: Merrilee, Marshall, and Miranda. In his forties, he took on a new adventure with his family, moving back to his wife's home area. First to Huntsville, Arkansas, and then after a few years, Mel and family moved to his home of more than two decades in Pineville, Missouri. Along the way, he picked up sons-in-law and daughters-in-law and added them to the family.
Eventually, Mel found his way into the most defining role of his life: Papa. Mel distinguished himself with the ability to repair most anything, but those skills paled in comparison to his capacity to love his grandchildren.
After his retirement as foreman and sawyer in Neosho, Missouri, Mel spent his time fishing, camping at Beaver Lake and Roaring River, and being Papa—the man, the myth, the legend.
He is survived and remembered by his wife Marian, son Bill Shoemaker (Jennifer), son Mike Shoemaker (Kelly), daughter Merrilee Greer (Jeremy), son Marshall Shoemaker (Tracy), daughter Miranda Gibson (Chase), fifteen grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. A man of kindness, strong work ethic, integrity, and loyalty, he will be missed greatly among all who knew him.
A memorial service is planned for Friday, November 28, at 2pm at Roaring River State Park in Cassville, Missouri. A Memorial Service will be held on November 29, 2025, at 02:00 PM at Roaring River State Park 12716 FM RD 2239
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