Glenna Cockrell Shoemaker (BS, MA), born June 10, 1941, died on April 27, 2017. She is survived by her husband, Melvin “Mel” Shoemaker, whom she married on December 29, 1961. They have three children: David Wesley, PhD, Professor in the Department of Philosophy and the Murphy Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA; Diana Marie Thornton, teacher and reading specialist, Foothill Middle School, Azusa Unified School District, Azusa, CA; and Daniel Luther, owner of the Teardrop Lounge and The Commissary, Portland, OR. Glenna is survived by two step-granddaughters, and two great-grandsons. Glenna and Mel moved from Palm Springs, CA to Portland, OR in March 2013 to live near their son Daniel.

Mrs. Shoemaker earned a BS in Elementary Education from Indiana Wesleyan University, Marion, Indiana (1962). After moving to California in 1986, Glenna completed a MA in Education and Pupil Personnel Services at Azusa Pacific University, Azusa, California (1989). She continued her graduate/professional studies at Azusa Pacific University, earning a Professional Clear Multiple Subject Teaching Credential, a Clear Pupil Personnel Services Credential, and a Professional Clear Administrative Services Credential.

Glenna worked in the Azusa Unified School District, Azusa, California for 20 years (1986-2006). Progressively, she was a middle school teacher (1986-89), elementary counselor (1989-1996), summer school principal (1996), middle school counselor (1996-1999), and retired in 2006 after serving seven years as the Administrative Coordinator of Pupil Services and Special Education (1999-2006). Her last position included personnel responsibilities with AUSD special education teachers and staff. She completed, received, and monitored grants; coordinated referrals of students for special education; and assisted and trained teachers and administrators in their service to students with special needs.

Glenna’s position at AUSD also included the administration and coordination of educational services to the blind in eleven school districts in Los Angeles County. She was a member of the Azusa Pacific University Social Work Advisory Board and served as supervisor and liaison with social work interns in the school district. She was recognized for outstanding service in social work by Azusa Pacific University and for her leadership in the district Primary Intervention Program.

Before Glenna and her family moved to California in 1986, Glenna was an elementary teacher in Bartlesville, OK (1984-1986), Dewey, OK (1980-1982), Lenapah, OK (1979-1980), Marion, IN (1967-1970), Versailles, KY (1965-1967), and Fort Wayne, IN (1962-1964). Glenna was also an accomplished organist/pianist, and served as the organist/director of music at the United Methodist Church, New Providence, NJ (1982-1984). She was a beloved mother, and known by many as a gifted and gracious hostess in the parsonage and the home wherever she lived.

After Glenna was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in June 2007, she dedicated her remaining years to research and the quest for a cure to this debilitating disease that claimed the life of her mother and her two siblings. “Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States and the only cause of death among the top 10 in the United States that cannot be prevented, cured, or even slowed” (alz.org). Since August 2015, Glenna has been a resident of Regency Park Kirkwood Memory Care, Portland, Oregon.

Glenna’s ashes will be interred in the Riverview Abbey Mausoleum, 0319 SW Taylors Ferry Road, Portland, Oregon 97219.