Stu Shoemaker January 17, 1915 - March 12, 2012

Stuart Loyal "Stu" Shoemaker passed away peacefully at the age of 97 on March 12, 2012. He was born on January 17, 1915 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he attended Union High School. He was the son of Marcus Lafayette and Margaret Struhs Shoemaker.

He joined the Navy after high school, and completed 20 years of active service from 1935 to 1955, where he was a Chief Petty Officer and Radioman specializing in communications and Morse Code. He served on many aircraft carriers, including the USS Indianapolis, the USS Princeton and the USS Yorktown. He was involved in the rescue of refugees from the Spanish Civil War in Gibraltar in 1936, and served on dozens of convoys escorting battleships across the Atlantic during World War II.

Prior to moving to Aspen Ridge Retirement Community in Bend in 2010, Stu lived at Sunny View Retirement Community in Cupertino, California, and for many years before that, lived in Sunnyvale, California.

After he retired from the Navy, Stu went back to school and graduated from San Jose City College with an Associate of Arts degree in electronics, and had a long career as a technology associate and engineer for General Dynamics and Sylvania.

Stu met his wife, Ida "Tomme" Crump, while he was stationed in San Diego, and they married in 1949. They were married for 59 years until she passed away in 2008 at the age of 99. Tomme was an accomplished fashion designer, artist and vaudeville dancer with the renowned Fanchon-Marco Dance Troupe. Together, she and Stu traveled the world, and Stu often recalled their memorable climb to the top of Japan's Mount Fuji in 1951 with a group of Stu's fellow sailors and a local guide. They were members of the Golden Gate Travel Club and traveled over 100,000 miles in their motor home throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Among Stu's interests were woodworking, auto repair, military history, reading and lawn bowling. Stu was a member of the Sunnyvale Lawn Bowling Club, where he served as public relations officer. In recent years, he was a proud member of the Bend Band of Brothers and enjoyed the friendship and camaraderie of his fellow veterans at their meetings at Jake's Diner.

Stu loved to share stories of his travels and adventures, was quick with a joke and enjoyed greeting friends with a big smile and two thumbs up. If asked how he was doing, he would usually say "100 percent" and "Ichiban" - Japanese for "the best." If asked how old he was, he would always say "older than dirt!"

He is preceded in death by his wife, Tomme; parents Marcus and Margaret; brother Norton; and sister Lucille.

Stu had a loving circle of family and friends who visited him often at Aspen Ridge. He is survived by nieces and nephews Jeri and Dan Fouts, Shannon Fouts and Ryan Burbank of Sisters; Irv and Karen Crump of Larkspur, Colorado; Katherine Martin of Long Beach, CA; Bob Tucker of Ashland; Jillian and Richard Manley of Sonora, CA; Stacey and Eric Blosch of Davis, CA; and close friends Margaret and Eric McKinley of Bend; Sig Hanseth of Bend; and Joe and Gail Gallagher of Bend. He also leaves behind many friends among the staff and residents of Aspen Ridge, and from the At Home Care Group and Partners in Care

Hospice.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Stu's honor may be made to the Band of Brothers, c/o Jake's Diner, 2210 N.E. Highway 20, Bend, OR 97701.

A memorial service with military honors will be held on Saturday, April 7, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Bend Elks Lodge, 63120 Boyd Acres Rd., Bend, followed by a reception at Aspen Ridge, 1010 N.E. Purcell,

Bend.

Please sign the online guestbook for the family at www.deschutesmemorialchapel.com.