H Reese Shoemaker, Jr.

H. Reese Shoemaker, Jr., well-known Frederick attorney and lifelong resident of Frederick County, died Wednesday, August 17, 2011. Mr. Shoemaker was widely recognized for his staunch integrity, professional ethics and family values. Mr. Shoemaker was born April 11, 1922, the son of the late Henry Reese Shoemaker and Edna Freeman Shoemaker. After attending grade school in Middletown, he graduated from Frederick High School in 1939. Mr. Shoemaker went on to attend the University of Maryland, but put his studies on hold to serve in the U.S. Army during World War II, shipping out to the Pacific on his twenty-first birthday. His assignments included overseas duty in New Guinea and the Philippines. Following his service, Mr. Shoemaker returned to college and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Maryland in 1947. In 1949, he received his law degree from the University of Maryland School of Law and was admitted to the State Bar of Maryland.

Mr. Shoemaker practiced law in Frederick County for over forty years and was a founding member and senior partner of the law firm Shoemaker, Horman and Clapp, P.A. at the time of his retirement in 1992. In Mr. Shoemakers early career, he served as a trial magistrate for Frederick County from 1951 until 1959 and as City Attorney for the City of Frederick from 1967 until 1975. Mr. Shoemaker served on the Maryland Public Service Commission from 1967 until 1975, and, in 1977, he was reappointed to the Commission as a part-time Commissioner. Among his professional activities, Mr. Shoemaker was a member and past President of the Frederick Country Bar Association and a member of the Maryland State Bar Association. In 1978, he was elected to the Board of Directors of Farmers & Mechanics Bank, now PNC Bank, and served in such position until his retirement. He also served as a member of the Inquiry Committee of the Attorney Grievance Committee of the State of Maryland and a member of the Character Committee of the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Judicial Circuit.

A longtime member of Calvary United Methodist Church, he became the second-ever lay Chairman of the Administrative Board. He served several terms as an Administrative Board member and many years as an usher, winking to his family as he made his way up and down the aisles. Mr. Shoemaker was a life member and past President of the Frederick Kiwanis Club, a life member of the Frederick County Fish & Game Protective Association and a member of the American Legion, the Veteran of Foreign Wars, Columbia Lodge #58 AF and AM, Cotillion Club and other civic organizations.

Despite his numerous professional and civic commitments, Mr. Shoemakers first priority was his family. He treasured the time he spent with them on trips to the Eastern Shore and abroad. He was also an avid University of Maryland football fan, rooting for the Terrapins from the fifty yard line for countless seasons.

Mr. Shoemaker is survived by his wife of sixty years, Jeannette K. Shoemaker, daughter Janney K. Marshall, son-in-law Michael J. Strine, and granddaughter Jeannette A. Marshall, an associate with the law firm King & Spalding LLP in New York, son James R. Shoemaker, partner at Shoemaker, Horman and Clapp, P.A. in Frederick, daughter-in-law Tamara L. Shoemaker, and grandchildren Sam Henry and Virginia Leigh Shoemaker. The family will receive friends from 4 to 6 p.m. on Friday, August 19, 2011 at Keeney & Basford Funeral Home, 106 E. Church Street, Frederick. Funeral services will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, August 20 from the funeral home chapel.

Interment will follow in Mt. Olivet Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Calvary United Methodist Church, 131 W. 2nd Street, Frederick, MD 21701; or to Citizens Nursing Home of Frederick County, 1900 Rosemont Ave., Frederick, MD 21702.