Maycil Shoemaker

Maycil Frances Shoemaker, 97, of Beardstown died Wednesday, Dec. 19 at Heritage Health.

She was born July 9, 1921, on a farm near Ray, IL., the daughter of William Isaac and Sarah Catherine Goodin, the youngest of 10 children.

She married Delbert Lee Shoemaker on March 17, 1952 and he preceded her in death on March 12, 1990.  She is survived by her daughter Debbie (Brian) DeLoche; three grandchildren, Damond (Leslie) DeLoche of Rushville, IL; Sarah (Matt) Shivers, LeRoy, IL; and Hannah (Daniel) Shanks of St. Louis, MO. She is also survived by her great-grandchildren Ethan DeLoche, Isabelle and Henry Shivers, and Ezra Shanks.  Also surviving are two nieces, Katie Jockisch and Vicki Wulfing, and numerous great-nieces and nephews.

She was a proud member of the Beardstown High School Class of 1939 and spent most of her life as a homemaker and as a loving wife and mother.  She worked at the Wells Lamont glove factory for several years and loved to talk about the years she spent working on the farm with her sister and brother-in-law, Irene and Jim Warden. She also worked at the Handy Dairy Store on East Fourth Street. She was prone to tell people “If hard work ever killed anybody, I’d have been dead a long time ago.”

Her lasting legacy was the size of the heart she had for children, and the number of children she cared for and helped raise in her lifetime. To many of them, she was simply known as “Aunt Maycil” or “Grandma.”

She was preceded in death by three half brothers, Everett, Claude and Henry Goodin, and one half-sister Minnie Tweddell; three sisters Irene Warden, Ella Mae Goodin, and Kate Phillips, and two brothers, Chester and Virgil Goodin.

Private graveside services will be held. Memorials may be directed to Green Pastures Performing Arts Camp 1936 U.S. Hwy 67, Meredosia, IL 62665. Colwell Memorial Home is in charge of arrangements.