Harry M. Shoemaker III

A local sports legend in his heyday, he was an avid and accomplished golfer from a young age who later went into the golf business. Harry, a native of Signal Mountain, won the 1948 individual high school state golf championship playing for City High. At the University of Chattanooga, he was on the golf team and a member of Pi Kappa Alpha before enrolling in the Air Force in 1950. In 1953, while stationed in Germany, he won the Air Force Golf Championship of Europe, which included the British Isles and North Africa. That accomplishment earned him a trip to the World Wide Service Championships. He then distinguished himself by being the low amateur in both the European and German Opens.

After his military service, Harry studied at Florida State University and led the Seminoles golf team to a fourth place finish in the NCAA Tournament. He graduated from FSU in 1955 with a degree in business. He won the National Left Handers Amateur three years in a row (1956, 1957, and 1958) and won the Chattanooga City Championship twice (1955 and 1956). He also won the National “Left Handers Only” U.S. Open in Florida in 1960. In 1989 he was inducted into the Chattanooga Area Old Timers Sports Hall of Fame, and in 1995 he was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.

He worked as a sales representative for Georgia Pacific and then entered the golf course and real estate business. He developed and managed Battlefield Golf Club and Estates in Ringgold and he was also affiliated with Creeks Bend Golf Club in Hixson. After retirement he was a consultant for Indian Trace Golf Club in Chatsworth and Air Castle Golf Club in Trenton.

He belonged to the Boynton United Methodist Church in Ringgold where he was a member of the Wesley Sunday School Class. In recent years he was an active member of the Hamilton YMCA.

Harry was preceded in death by his parents, Dorris Taylor Shoemaker and Harry Maxwell Shoemaker, Jr.

He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Peggy Coleman Shoemaker; daughter Lori Ann Shoemaker, stationed in Tokyo, Japan; daughter Luci Shoemaker Stone (Rob), of Hixson; four grandchildren, Michael and Elizabeth Horan, of Tokyo, and Daniel and Ellen Stone, of Hixson; sister, Cynthia Shoemaker, of Boston; and several nieces and nephews.

The family will receive friends from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday at the North Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home in Hixson. The funeral service will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday at the North Chapel with the Rev. Bill Jackson officiating. Burial will be at the Chattanooga National Cemetery.

Honorary Pallbearers will be the Wesley Sunday School Class.

Memorial contributions may be made to the “Greatest of Love” fund at Boynton United Methodist Church, 4246 Boynton Drive, Ringgold, GA 30736 or the Hospice of Chattanooga Foundation, P.O. Box 19269, Chatt., TN 37416.

Arrangements are by the North Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home, Crematory and Florist.