Benjamin Shoemaker Jr.

SHOEMAKER

Posted By: June Brewer Welsch (email)
Date: 2/25/2008 at 12:59:29

Benjamin Shoemaker Jr.

Services: 1 p.m. today, Feb. 23, Shepherd of the Hills United Methodist Church, Sun City West.

SUN CITY WEST, Ariz. - Benjamin A. Shoemaker Jr., of Sun City West, passed away Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2008, at Hospice of the Valley in Surprise, Ariz., surrounded by his family.

Burial will be at Muscatine Memorial Park Cemetery. A graveside service is planned for a later date.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum, 13515 Yarmouth Drive, Pickerington, OH, 43147 or Hospice of the Valley, Surprise PCU, 14066 W. Waddell Rd., Surprise, AZ., 85379-8736.

He was born Oct. 28, 1933, in Muscatine, the son of Mabel and Ben Shoemaker Sr.

He was raised in Muscatine and graduated from Muscatine High School in 1951.

After he met and married his wife, he worked for Bessler Locomotive and Hawkeye Company in Davenport, before starting his first motorcycle business, a Harley-Davidson dealership in Muscatine in 1958.

In 1961, they moved the family and motorcycle business to Sioux City. He and his wife owned and operated Sioux City Motorcycle Sales for 20 years, before retiring to Arizona.

He was a member of the Muscatine Motorcycle Club during the 1950s, Sooland Rainmakers and Spinning Wheels in Sioux City during the 1960s and 70s and the Sun City Power Riders since the 1990s. In the late 1980s, he owned and operated Painter’s Choice in Pinetop, Ariz.

He had a lifelong passion for racing and riding motorcycles. He was a life member of the American Motorcycle Association and in his younger years, a member of the National Motorcycle Racing Association.

He was a motorcycle mechanic, welder, pilot and all around fix-it guy. During the years he lived in Sioux City, he was a member of the Masonic Lodge. He was also a member of Shepherd of the Hills United Methodist Church in Sun City West.

He was an avid collector and president of the Arizona Postcard Club for a number of years and the Tucson Postcard Club. He enjoyed reading and collecting antique toys and stamps.

He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Gwen Shoemaker; two daughters, Rhonda (Mark) Chilton and Renae Means of Pinetop, Ariz.; four grandchildren, Jennifer Holladay of Katy, Texas, and Sarah, Aaron and Laura Means of Pinetop; and four great-grandchildren, Kaitlyn, Brenton and Allison Holladay of Katy and Elora Seidel of Pinetop.

He was preceded in death by his parents and a sister, Betty Bembenek.
No relation
From Muscatine Iowa Journal Feb. 23, 2008