George Shackelford

1925 - 2024

George Shackelford

September 6, 1925 - June 19, 2024

Raleigh, North Carolina - On long summer days during the Depression, George Shackelford and his buddies played baseball on a vacant lot across from his house in Newport News, Va. They did their best impressions of Joltin' Joe DiMaggio, "Hammerin' Hank" Greenberg and other players of the day. "We would play until dark," George said.

He never wanted the game to end. But on another long summer day, nearly a century later, congestive heart failure made the decisive play. After a lifetime passion for baseball, his family, his church and simply, for life – George, 98, died peacefully at home, a man of faith reluctantly ready for the next inning.

Big George – as affectionately known by his children – grew up the son of a clothing shop salesperson and a homemaker and volunteer. An only child, he loved sports, went to church regularly and played clarinet in the high school band. He graduated from Newport News High School in 1942 and went to work at the local shipyard.

After receiving his WWII draft notice in 1943, he joined the Navy and became a torpedo man on the USS John D. Henley, a destroyer that patrolled the Pacific and gave protection to other ships. At Iwo Jima, the Henley provided heavy bombardment for the Marines going ashore. When they made it up Mt. Suribachi, Big George saw them plant the U.S. flag.

After the war, he took a job at Langley Air Force base collating reports. When a friend encouraged him to attend Elon College on the GI bill, Big George didn't think long. He completed a degree in physical education in 1950 and finished his master's degree the following year at UNC Chapel Hill. He married Patricia Gilliam on June 10, 1951, and soon accepted a teaching and basketball coaching position at Mebane (N.C.) High School, where he and Pat made a life for more than a decade with their three children.

In Mebane, he developed a robust youth rec program and was named the 1960 Jaycees' Man of the Year. Four years later, the N.C. Department of Public Instruction recruited him to work with health teachers across the state. He left Mebane/Eastern Alamance as the winningest boys' basketball coach in Alamance County history (187-83 record), which included the 1957 Class A state title. He spent 22 years at DPI and was a pioneer in school sex education.

Not long after the family moved to Raleigh in 1965, Pat became ill. After her death in late 1969, Big George ably ran the house until he married his second wife, Ann Muse, in 1972. A teacher at Martin Junior High, she died of cancer in 1995. Several years later, Big George began dating Carol O'Briant, and they married in 2002.

At First Presbyterian, Big George served as an elder four times, received the Presbytery's "Older Adult" award and loved the Early Birds breakfast group, where he was a frequent speaker. He loved telling jokes and relished attending the Raleigh Sports Club. At his 90th birthday, he threw out the first pitch of a Durham Bulls game, calling it one of the greatest moments of his life.

Big George is survived by Carol and his children and their spouses/partners: Susan (Melissa), Greg (Hal) and Sherry (Smokey). He is also survived by Gilliam nieces and nephews, and by Carol's children, Kevin and Colleen (Mike), their 3 children; daughter-in-law Laurie (Reynolds, deceased) and Reynolds' daughter. Contributions may be made to A Place at the Table, First Presbyterian (IMO George Shackelford/Friendship Fund) and Paws for Purple Hearts. For more, go online to Brown-Wynne, St. Mary's St., where the visitation is 5-7pm July 5. The service is 1pm July 6 at First Presbyterian.