The Reverend Doctor George Edward Shore

The Reverend Doctor George Edward Shore passed away on November 15, 2019. George was born January 3, 1930 in Winston-Salem, the only child to the late George Ray and Sarah Thelma (Sallie) Hutchens Shore. He graduated Hanes High School in 1947 and Duke University in 1951.

George was raised in the Moravian Church and during his college years discerned God’s call to ministry. As a Duke student, he was mentored by numerous pastors, notably B. E. Morris at Greystone Baptist Church in Durham. He was ordained to the gospel ministry in 1950. He married Louise Simmons, daughter of O.B. and Pauline Martin Simmons of Winston-Salem in August 1951. George attended Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY for one year then transferred to the newly opened Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest where he earned a Bachelor of Divinity in 1954 and a Master of Theology in 1955.

After formal pastoral & theological training, he pastored churches in Jeffersonville, Indiana and Durham, Nash, Rockingham, Davidson and Forsyth Counties in North Carolina before moving to work in Baptist denominational affairs for the remainder of his life’s calling to ministry.

He was appointed by the Southern Baptist Home Mission Board in 1969 to the Pilot Mountain Baptist Association as the first Director of Christian Social Ministries in North Carolina. George served as Director of Missions for the Cabarrus Baptist Association 1974-79, then with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (BSCNC) until his retirement in 1997. During his tenure with the BSCNC, he earned a Doctor of Ministry degree in 1985 from the Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in San Francisco. Following retirement, George served as an interim and supply pastor at multiple churches and as interim director of missions for two Baptist associations. George & Louise have been long time active members and supporters of Crabtree Valley Baptist Church, Raleigh.

George’s calling to Christian ministry was enriched and sustained by his strong family, civic, community and social life. George piloted a Piper Cub J5 airplane; played and later officiated high school football; played the trumpet in jazz, marching and church bands; was a member of Kiwanis and Lions Clubs; started a control line model airplane club; restored a 1927 Ford T-Model that he drove in parades; played in church basketball and softball leagues; achieved the rank of Major as a chaplain in the Civil Air Patrol; drove a Kawasaki 750 motorcycle; an auto racing enthusiast, he helped initiate the Baptist State Convention’s race ministry with NASCAR for fans & drivers; mentored two generations of pastors and church staff; represented the Baptist State Convention in joint mission efforts in West Virginia, New York, Brazil, Ukraine and with the European Baptist Union; volunteered for 10-years at the Rex Cancer Center after winning his own battle with leukemia; and traveled extensively across the United States with his family vacationing and attending the Southern Baptist Convention plus Campers on Mission rallies in a caravan of travel trailers with other pastors and their families beginning in 1958 to the 1980s.

George is survived by his wife of 68 years, Louise, who resides in Cary; son Steven Shore (Darlene) in Apex, granddaughter Stefanie Kuzdrall (David) and great-grandson Dylan in Apex; son Kenneth Shore in Winston-Salem, granddaughter Hayley Shore in Dublin, Ireland, and grandsons William and David Shore in Raleigh.

Visitation will be held on Tuesday, November 19 from 4:00-6:00pm at Mitchell Funeral Home, 7209 Glenwood Ave, Raleigh. A funeral service will be held on Wednesday, November 20 at 1:00pm at Crabtree Valley Baptist Church, 4408 Leadmine Road, Raleigh. Burial will follow at Raleigh Memorial Park with a reception immediately after next door at Mitchell Funeral Home.

The family is grateful to the caring physicians, nurses, nurse assistants and the entire team of medical professionals at Rex Hospital and Rehabilitation/Nursing facilities, to caregivers from Brookdale Senior Living & Home Health, Home Instead and Spring Arbor of Cary. The family suggests memorials to Crabtree Valley Baptist Church in Raleigh or the Rex Healthcare Foundation in Raleigh in honor of George’s legacy of love and service to God, family and all the people he sought to help during his life’s journey.