News
John Shook dies at 83; retired firefighter raised 17 children; active in church, pulmonary rehab group
KISSIMMEE, FL — John R. Shook, a retired Ohio firefighter who raised 17 children with his wife Mary Lou, died at home Sunday at the age of 83.
The Shooks raised 11 children of their own and six of the children of Mary Lou’s late sister. They celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in June of 2007 and their huge extended family had been planning a 65th anniversary celebration for next June.
The Shooks attended the 2010 national conference of the Alpha-1 Association in Orlando, where John Shook was the oldest Alpha.
John and Mary Lou Shook
Shook was a 48-year-old fire brigade captain when his lung disease, caused by Alpha-1 and the smoke and noxious chemicals of firefighting, forced him to apply for a partial disability. Later he became fire chief at a nuclear plant in Ohio, training the staff without having to actively fight fires.
After the children were grown, the Shooks moved to Florida for John’s health.
In retirement, Shook was a community leader at Kissimmee Gardens, and also a Sunday school teacher and lay leader at Gateway Baptist Church. When his health no longer permitted him to teach, “he continued to write Sunday school lessons with a gentleman he was mentoring,” said his wife.
Well into his 80s, he was active in the pulmonary rehabilitation group at Florida Hospital in Celebration. For years he was part of a harmonica group called the Harmonicats, organized by the hospital pulmonary rehab department. He turned 83 in May, but actually continued to attend pulmonary rehab sessions until last July.
Two of the couple’s sons-in-law, both church pastors, will officiate at the funeral service Thursday at 10 am in Gateway Baptist Church, 2601 Partin Settlement Rd, Kissimmee, FL, 34744.
Flowers may be sent to Osceola Memory Gardens, 1717 Old Boggy Creek Road, Kissimmee, FL 34744 or donations may be made to the Alpha-1 Foundation at www.alpha-1foundation.org/help.
John Shook’s story was featured in Alpha-1-To-One magazine in the fall of 2010 
