DONALD DWIGHT "DON" SHOEMAKE

1939 - 2015

DONALD DWIGHT (DON) SHOEMAKE Donald Dwight (Don) Shoemake, Crosby, TX was born November 27, 1939 to Edna Rowles Shoemake and Dwight Shoemake in a log cabin near Bolivar, MO. He passed away June 30, 2015 at Legend Oaks Healthcare Center in East Houston. Don was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Rita Joyce Crochet Shoemake; son, Daniel Meyers; brother, Douglas Shoemake; step- mother, Leisa Shoemake; sister, Leisa Shoemake Jackson; and brother-in-law, George Taylor. Survivors are sisters: Maye Gulley (Jim) of De Soto, KS; Wanda Taylor of Bonner Springs, KS; and Geraldine Hignight of Bolivar, MO; three nieces and a nephew, seven great nieces, several cousins, and many friends. Early years for Don were spent on farms in Bear Creek, and Dunnegan, MO where he learned to drive a tractor at a very young age. He attended Fair Play, MO Schools from first grade through his sophomore year. The family moved to Kansas City, KS and he graduated from Wyandotte High School in 1957. After high school he worked at Proctor and Gamble, earning $2 an hour and saved $1000 toward college that first summer. He attended Kansas University and graduated from Emporia State Teachers College with a Bachelors Degree in Science in 1973. He taught chemistry, physics, and math, teaching at Hoyt, KS, Austin Sr. High in Houston, TX and Hardin School, Liberty, TX. Don was an army veteran of the Vietnam Era. Don was diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis in the late 1990s and developed a close relationship with his doctor, Aziz Shaibani of Houston, TX. Memorial contributions may be made to Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America, 355 Lexington Avenue, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10017. Cremation. No services were held.