Russell Eugene Shoemaker, 91, of Bartlesville, Oklahoma, passed away quietly on Friday, October 14, 2016, at the Bartlesville Care and Rehab Center. Friends and family may call on Friday, October 21st, from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. at New Salem Funeral Home, Independence, MO. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, October 22nd at the same location; burial to follow in New Salem Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Redeemer Lutheran Church, 3700 SE Woodland Road, Bartlesville, OK, 74006; Comforting Hands Hospice, LLC, 1366 SE Washington Blvd, Suite A, Bartlesville, OK 74006; the Salvation Army or the American Red Cross.
Russell was born July 26, 1925, at home near Rothville, Missouri, to Claude William Shoemaker and Cassie (White) Shoemaker. Russell was the sixth out of a total of eleven children born from this union. Russell grew up and received his early education at Rothville and Marceline schools, graduating from Marceline High School in 1943. He played varsity basketball in High School. On Thanksgiving Day, 1943, he was enlisted into the US Naval Reserve and had basic training in Idaho and further training at Jacksonville, Florida and other training sites as a radioman/rear gunner for the TBF and TBM Avenger torpedo bombers. Russell was eventually assigned to Torpedo Squadron 49 on the aircraft carriers USS San Jacinto (CVL-30) and USS Bataan (CVL-29), operating in the Pacific Theatre. While on bombing missions over enemy-held territory on June 6, 1945, Russell was severely wounded in the legs and arms by enemy anti-aircraft fire. It was later determined that his life was saved only by fast action from the top turret gunner. The plane barely made it back to the carrier, where Russell spent the next several months in and out of hospitals recovering from his wounds. He was eventually honorably discharged and left the Naval Service on Valentine’s Day 1946.
Russell spent one year working as a part-time baker and then as a laborer while attending the University of MO at Kansas City. On July 20, 1947, he married the former Marguerite C. Lewis of Ethel, MO. Russell entered the University of MO at Columbia in 1948 and graduated in June 1952, with a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering. Russell and Marguerite moved to Independence, MO where Russell began employment for Phillips Petroleum Company at the Kansas City Refinery. Over the next 27 years he steadily rose through the ranks at the Refinery, eventually becoming the Maintenance Department’s Shops Division Supervisor. In 1979, the company relocated Russell to the Corporate Headquarters at Bartlesville, OK, where he became part of an elite group of Refining experts within the Petroleum Products Division. He was a Licensed Professional Engineer Registered in the State of Kansas. Russell retired from the Company in 1982 after more than 30 years of service.
Marguerite and Russell traveled extensively and visited all 50 states and many overseas countries. They especially liked the annual family lake trips to The Lake of the Ozarks and then later to Table Rock Lake. Russell pulled water skiers for many hours at the lake, and helped his grandchildren learn to ski. Russell was still water skiing in his early 80’s.
Marguerite passed away in June 2009. They had 61years of marriage. They were members of Redeemer Lutheran Church, Bartlesville, OK. In addition to Marguerite, Russell was preceded in death by his parents, Claude and Cassie, five sisters: Marguerite Shoemaker, Opal Tetlow Taylor, Wilma Wilson Rogers, Doris Sportsman, and Betty Shoemaker; and five brothers: Virgil, Bob, Dale, Jimmy, and Thomas (Sonny). Russell is survived by two sons, Larry and wife Linda of Bartlesville, OK and Alan Shoemaker of Independence, MO; five grandchildren: Melani Shoemaker of Tulsa, OK, Brad Shoemaker of Bartlesville, OK, Jason Shoemaker of Blue Springs, MO, Susan Shoemaker of Norman, OK, and Amanda Shoemaker of Lee’s Summit MO; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Arrangements: Royer’s New Salem Funeral Home, Independence MO 816-796-8600