Wayne E ShoemakerDes MoinesWayne Eugene Shoemaker, age 96, died on December 12, 2016 after a glorious and eventful life.He was born on October 11, 1920 in a tiny town in southwest Nebraska. A service celebrating his life will be held at Immanuel United Methodist Church, Des Moines, Iowa in the spring.Following his graduation from college, Wayne went on to receive his Masters of Divinity from Garrett Evangelical Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. In 1952 Upper Iowa University in Fayette, IA, conferred upon him a Doctor of Divinity degree; he was the youngest minister to receive such recognition from Upper Iowa University.On June 23, 1946, he married Avis Fleser in Burnips, Michigan. Avis and Wayne served Methodist churches in East Dubuque, IL, Fayette, Ida Grove, Hampton, Ft. Dodge, Des Moines Grace and Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ in Des Moines.While serving the Methodist Church in Ida Grove, Iowa, he formed a redemptive friendship with former Governor and U.S. Senator Harold Hughes who wrote to him in 1977 stating "in the course of the last 25 yrs no man has had a more powerful effect in my life and thoughts as you have."For many years he was active in youth ministries and camps at Clear Lake and Lake Okoboji. He was involved in many aspects of social concern, justice issues and stewardship development in a number of local churches in the Northern Iowa Conference. In Fort Dodge, he was one of the leaders in the formation of the Mission in the Valley, a ministry to and for a minority neighborhood in the city.In 1969, he moved to Des Moines to become the first Program Director of the Iowa Methodist Conference after having drafted most of the new plan of organization and structure for the merged Methodist and E.U.B. churches, working closely with Bishop James S. Thomas.He was elected by his peers as one of Iowa's delegation to Jurisdictional, General and World Conferences in developing programs and policies to govern the Worldwide Methodist Church.In Des Moines, he was a founding member of the Drake University Neighborhood Association along with the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa, being named as its first Volunteer of the Year. Here he organized a retired clergy support group and 76 clergy from all faith groups to encourage tax support for Des Moines area public schools. At the same time he was a member of Iowa Methodist Hospital Executive Committee.In 1982, Wayne took early retirement from the United Methodist Church to become the first Minister of Administration at Plymouth Congregational Church in Des Moines where he provided direction for finance and business management for ten years.Wayne, Avis and family resided at 3423 48th Place in Beaverdale. Their home was a gathering point for neighborhood children and basketball games in the driveway drew youth from across the city. The annual homemade ice cream social for the neighborhood children in their backyard was a cherished event for years.Wayne is survived by Peg and her husband, Jim, daughter Mary and her husband Dave, son Mark, son Paul and his wife Lori. He had one granddaughter, Aly, and her husband Nick, six grandsons, Jacce, Jeff, Keith, Ben, Nick and Sam and three great grandsons, Beau, Nolan and Conley.In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions be given to the Wesley Acres Good Samaritan Fund, 3524 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50312 or Bidwell Riverside, 1203 Hartford Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50315.