Dean Shoemaker - 9/25/25

We gather today to mourn the death of Dean Shoemaker. But even as we mourn his death, we also want to celebrate his life. As we mourn, we should look to the Bible for strength and hope.

17 The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles. 18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. (Psalm 32:17-18, NLT)

Today, as we grieve, we desire and need the comfort that only the Lord can offer. So will you pray with me?

Our Heavenly Father, we feel the sting of loss from Dean’s passing acutely. As we attempt to remember him and honor him today, we pray for your help. May this time of remembrance bring us joy, even in the midst of grief. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Dean Kurt Shoemaker was born August 20th, 1961, in La Harpe, the son of Frank and Naomi F. (Spainhower) Shoemaker Sr. He was a 1979 graduate of La Harpe High School. Following high school, he began working for Mynatt Construction in La Harpe, learning many tools of the trade. He could build or fix anything. Dean also attended Montana School of Taxidermy and Tanning and opened Prairie State Custom Tanning when he returned. Later, he worked on various bridge crews including Hillyer Construction in Macomb, IL.

He was an avid outdoorsman, and enjoyed hunting, fishing, mushrooming, riding horses, and especially time with his daughter and grandsons. He loved cooking and surprising his family with the new meals he had made.

Dean passed away on Thursday, September 18th, 2025 in Washington, IA at the age of 64. He was preceded in death by his parents.

He is survived by one daughter: Lindy Finke of Winfield, Iowa; two grandsons: Gannon and Jackson; six siblings: Frank (Annette) Shoemaker Jr. of Wheaton, Illinois, Lindsay (Debbie) Shoemaker of La Harpe, Paula (Rob) Blythe of Dallas City, Marvin Shoemaker of Charleston, South Carolina, Ken Shoemaker of La Harpe, and Reva Jones of Los Angeles, California, along with numerous nieces and nephews.

Over the last several days, I’ve had the privilege of getting to learn a lot about Dean Shoemaker. Ironically, I think he would not have cared for all the fuss that is being made over him. While Dean was a wonderful person with a heart of gold, he was also very private and was not one to share much about himself.

Nonetheless, I think it appropriate that we spend time talking about him today, because he is worth both remembering and celebrating.

Dean was incredibly talented at all sorts of things. He could fix or build just about anything and was an excellent craftsman when he put his mind to it. This was shown in his attention to detail in his tanning business, in the way he built tree stands, the way he cooked, the way he wrapped presents, and even in the way he folded his laundry. Dean was the kind of person who didn’t do things halfway. If he was going to do it, he was going to do it well.

I suspect this might have contributed to what might charitably be called a stubborn streak. Dean was a pretty hard-headed guy, and you weren’t likely to change his mind once he had decided to do something. There was only one way to do things…and it was Dean’s way. Fortunately, most of the time, his way was pretty good.

I heard Dean described several times as having a heart of gold. Most people knew that if you needed his help, Dean would be more than happy to help you out, no matter what it was. And he didn’t expect you to help him in return. He just enjoyed providing for others.

While this made him a wonderful person to know, it did make it difficult for him when he tried to run his own businesses. He took great pride in his tanning and did excellent work. When he did construction, he loved building things. But he didn’t like doing bookwork, sending out bills, or hounding people for money. Unfortunately, those things are necessary for a business to succeed. Dean wasn’t so interested in those things. He was more concerned with just doing the things he loved and meeting the needs of others.

That attitude was also evident in the way he gave gifts. He was a great gift-giver, always trying to come up with something personal for the people he cared about. He was not fond of just buying something off the shelf. He preferred to do something tangible for others. Sometimes, that might mean making something for them, other times it would involve doing something for them or with them.

Paula recalled one Christmas where Dean had told them not to prepare anything for the meal. He showed up having prepared Cornish game hens for everyone, with a full spread to match. He set the tables like a five-star restaurant, and just enjoyed being able to provide for the people he loved.

He was quite adept at cooking, and was always looking to learn something new. He would often find something on the internet or TV that he wanted to try, and then he’d have fun tackling the new dish. And he was usually quite successful. He especially enjoyed cooking for others. He liked to make something he didn’t think people had ever had before.

He loved spending time with his family. He and Lindy were inseparable most of the time. He thoroughly enjoyed the time he got to spend with her through the years. They spent many hours in the timber together. She remembered him meticulously building a tree stand big enough for them to hunt together, and she said he always loved having her there, even though she would often fall asleep or walk back to the truck because she was cold. Nonetheless, they both grew to enjoy hunting and spending time in the woods together.

He and Lindy loved hunting deer, calling turkeys, and hunting mushrooms. She said he always seemed to get the biggest deer, even though he would smoke in the tree stand and would inevitably be coughing up a storm at some point. Still, he usually managed to bag the big ones.

Just as he invested in Lindy, he also was eager to invest in his nieces and nephews. One year, he helped Taylor with a 4-H project that involved building a hunting blind. Taylor learned a lot, and Dean was wonderfully patient with him. Taylor’s project ended up being selected for the state fair that year as a result.

Most of the nieces and nephews could tell you similar stories, as Dean loved to spend time with them and share his knowledge and skills with them.

Somewhat paradoxically, though Dean loved to hunt, he also loved animals. He had an Arabian horse named Joker that he loved. Through the years he had many dogs. They were almost always big dogs: Rottweilers, Dobermans, or Mastiffs; but they also always lived in the house. He cared for them and loved them dearly. When they passed, he would often build them their own coffin and bury them in his pet cemetery on his property.

On more than one occasion, he encountered a situation where a mother raccoon had died, so he adopted the babies and took care of them until they were big enough to be out on their own. He built them their own cages and took great care of them. Lindy remembered one time he came home from Florida with a bucket full of lizards. And another time, they took care of a friend’s pet snake. The only exception to his love of animals, I’m told, was cats. He loved dogs, but didn’t want to deal with cats.

He would do most anything for his daughter. When Lindy was younger and he was working 3rdshift, he learned to curl her hair to get her ready for school in the mornings. When the grandkids came along, he was over the moon. He loved them so much. He counted it a great privilege to share his birthday with Gannon. When he moved to Iowa, he relished getting to pick the kids up from school. He would get there way earlier than he needed to so he could make sure he had a good parking spot. Lindy said her grandma used to do the same thing for her when she was little.

Dean loved his family, but seemingly never called anyone by their given name. Everyone had a nickname. Lindy was “Lulu” or “Punky.” Paula was “Sis” or “Sunshine.” Lindsay was “Bubba” or “Zap.” Debbie was “Lucy”. Hoss…well, he was Hoss. And Marvin never remembers being called anything but “Fuzzy.” If he didn’t know you well enough to have a nickname for you, you were still likely to be Pal, Partner, or Buddy. All of these things were Dean’s way of showing his affection for you. He probably wasn’t going to say much else about the matter, but he would be looking for ways to show you.

Dean was a pretty simple guy. He didn’t need much, and wasn’t particularly flashy. His wardrobe generally consisted of Wrangler jeans, and a denim, pearl snap shirt, a flannel, or a pocket tee, usually with the sleeves cut off.

There was one time, however, that his wardrobe got him into trouble. Once, when visiting Marvin in Florida, Dean decided to take off his cowboy boots and roll up his jeans when he went to the beach. The unfortunate result for him was third degree burns on his legs! Those legs weren’t used to seeing the light of day!

Another of the ways Dean tried to care for others was by giving blood. He had donated several gallons of blood over the years, and was proud of doing so. The problem, however, was that Dean wasn’t a big guy. Most of the time, he was flirting with the weight limits to be allowed to give. So, when he knew he was going to be donating blood, he’d make sure to wear his heaviest, steel-toed boots, that way they’d be sure to let him donate.

He was a pretty laid-back guy most of the time. He constantly told people “Don’t sweat the small stuff” (though his language may have been a bit more colorful) and “It’ll be alright.” These were things he’d learned by experience. Dean had a lot of rough luck in his life. A lot of things just didn’t seem to go his way. But he seemed to take his own advice, trusting that in the end, it’ll be alright.

Today, as we acutely feel the loss we face from Dean’s passing, we want to temper it by remembering the impact he made while he was living. Dean’s legacy, his example, and the impression he made will continue to live on. And it’s those memories to which we cling today.

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One of the things that’s hard about the death of someone we love is the feeling that this is the end of the story. And of course, in one sense, it is. For the rest of our lives, we will not be able to make new memories or have new experiences with Dean. So, it’s true; that chapter of the story is over.

But in another sense, the story isn’t over. The Bible tells us that there is life beyond the grave. It tells us that the story doesn’t end just because our life on this earth has ended. Listen to what the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15,

17 And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. 18 In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! 19 And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. 20 But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. (1 Corinthians 15:17-20, NLT)

Paul points to Jesus as the ultimate proof that there is life beyond the grave. He said that if Jesus didn’t really rise from the dead, then believing in Him is useless, and there’s really no hope for any of us. If Jesus isn’t real, then you live, you die, and that’s it. In that case, a funeral is a pretty depressing thing. And if that’s true, life itself seems devoid of meaning.

The Bible, however, holds out to us the hope that this life is not all there is. Jesus was killed, but He also rose again. And Paul tells us that Jesus is the proof that all who believe in Him will also rise again.

This is the hope we can find and cling to, even as we face the reality of death. Death is something each of us will have to face for ourselves. Nowhere is this more starkly apparent than at a funeral.

Unfortunately, many people have misguided ideas about the notion of Jesus and life beyond the grave. It seems that many people seem to think that all you need to do to go to Heaven after you die is…well…die. Though many people seem to believe this, it isn’t true.

Others imagine that the determining factor in our eternal destination is whether you are a good person or not. The problem is, how do we define that? I suspect most of us believe we are pretty good people. But the Bible makes it clear that isn’t the case. Each of us have broken God’s laws. We have all sinned. As a result, we are all criminals who stand condemned in the court of Heaven. We do not deserve Heaven, not one of us. And no amount of good things can change that fact, just as volunteering every week in a soup kitchen can’t erase a lifetime of crime.

There is only one hope, and that is for someone to pay our penalty for us. That person needs to be sinless, and they need to offer themselves on our behalf. Here’s the good news: Jesus did exactly that. This is our hope.

The Bible teaches that if we place our trust in Jesus, following Him as the Lord of our lives, then we can live even though we die. I don’t know where Dean’s heart was when he died. It is my hope that he trusted Jesus in this way. If so, then he is experiencing life as it was always meant to be today.

But I would be remiss if I didn’t call you to look at your own heart today as well. We must each decide what we will do with Jesus. Will we ignore Him, or will we embrace Him? The answer to that question has a profound impact on how we view death and what comes next.

That is the hope I hold out to you today. Because of Jesus, we do not need to mourn as though the story is over. This chapter is over, but there is a glorious story that is still to be written.

As we conclude today, I want to highlight some lessons we can learn from the life and example of Dean Shoemaker.

1. Life’s too short to sweat the small stuff. Worrying about it doesn’t do much for you. It’s better to just keep moving forward, doing what’s right, and trusting that “It’ll be alright.”

2. Time invested in others is never wasted. Simple gestures can make a profound impact on those we care about.

3. If something is worth doing, it’s worth doing right.

4. If you love someone, make sure they know it. Tell them regularly and show them even more often.

5. When you go to the beach, sunscreen is your friend—especially if your skin rarely sees the light of day!

6. If you serve other people, you don’t have to talk about yourself that much—others will do it for you.

7. Ultimately, questions of faith are not mere mental exercises. As we stand face-to-face with death, we are reminded that the questions of what happens when we die and whether Jesus is real are immensely practical and of ultimate importance. So we must each decide where we stand—because one day soon we will face the end as well.

Will you pray with me?

Dear Lord, we come today with deep pain from the loss of someone we loved so dearly. Father, we ask for your help and comfort as we grieve. Give this family and these friends strength and hope in the days, weeks, and months to come as they begin the process of learning to live life without Dean. Remind them of their memories, remind them of one another, but above all, remind them of you. Surround them with your comfort and strength. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.