Elmer Reynolds Shore

Elmer Reynolds Shore died on June 1, 2025. He had just celebrated his 91st birthday, and his hospital room at the University of Washington Medical Center was full of cards from his family and photos of his six children, seven grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren. There was also a handmade Harley Davidson card from the hospital nurses. If you knew Elmer, this would make you smile.

Elmer was born on May 26, 1934, to Marcelle Louise Chapuzet and John Edward Shore, on Queen Anne Hill, in Seattle, Washington. His father had married his mother, a Frenchwoman from Saint-Seurin-sur-l’Isle, immediately following World War I, and returned with her to the United States. They had four children, and Elmer, the youngest, was often left to his own devices, especially after his father died from a liver disease when Elmer was only ten years old. As a kid, Elmer built fires in the basement furnace first thing in the morning, scrounged for food (as many people did during World War II rationing), and had grand adventures, including hiking into the Cascade Mountains to camp and hunt for days at a time, outfitted with supplies from the Army Surplus store. He also learned to cope with being named “Elmer,” which required humor, confidence, and charm. And some fighting skills. Fortunately, Elmer was almost unfairly athletic and graceful. In high school he played baseball, basketball, and football. Later he added golf, squash, snow-skiing, water-skiing, and windsurfing, and got a black belt in karate. Even until a month before he was hospitalized with leukemia at age 90, Elmer was riding a bicycle and pumping iron regularly.

Elmer married his high school sweetheart, Anne Horsfall, when he was 19 years old, and together they had four children: Alan Shore, Debra Shore-Dundas, Doug Shore, and Darryl Shore. Elmer was an affectionate, engaged father, but he was usually working at least two jobs and didn’t get to spend as much time as he would have liked with his young family. He developed bleeding ulcers and had an extensive stomach operation at the age of 33, from which he recovered out of sheer determination and a desire to support his kids. Elmer modeled a scrupulous work ethic and encouraged his kids in whatever truly interested and excited them.

When he started a family, Elmer realized of necessity that he had an aptitude for repairing cars. But as the years passed, he understood and enjoyed any beautiful machine, whether a car, motorcycle, boat, jet plane, missile, pipe organ or espresso machine. He was a meticulous woodworker and craftsman, building everything from staircases to wooden kayaks. Elmer loved learning and didn’t shy away from challenging subjects; he taught himself advanced calculus at age 65. He saw the world as a wondrous place, and inspired others to see it that way, too.

Elmer was intelligent and—like his mother—incredibly resourceful, affectionate, loyal, and protective of those he loved. He was also cool: at ease with himself and fun. He had a playful, signature sarcasm, and his kids and grandkids imitate the “are you serious?” expression that was classic Elmer. His family remember and sometimes use his many esoteric and original sayings. For instance, when a kid complained about being hungry before it was time to eat, Elmer was known to offer the kid “wind pudding and air dip.” And sometimes he expressed himself with a startling combination of elegance and crudeness (“He’d bitch if he were hung with a new rope.”).

Elmer never lost his sense of adventure—in his forties, he started traveling the world. Elmer and Anne had divorced, and Elmer was working for the Boeing Company, where he had held positions including tool design on the Minuteman missile, and supervising the assembly of various aspects of Boeing jets. In 1975, Elmer had a chance interaction with a woman named Gretchen Green, and they talked about their dreams. Elmer wanted to travel to Turkey, and Gretchen to Greece. Shortly thereafter, Elmer had an opportunity to enter field service for Boeing. He and Gretchen married, and in 1976, they moved to Baghdad, Iraq. Over the next twenty-five years, they lived in Sana’a, Yemen; Karachi, Pakistan; Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; Belgrade, Serbia; Vienna, Austria; and Vancouver, Canada. They traveled and explored extensively from these locations, including to Turkey and Greece. Elmer and Gretchen also had two children together: Sarah Shore and Andrew Shore.

Elmer thrived in field service, which required him to be an expert in Boeing aircraft and an emissary of the company. He endeared himself to his colleagues by being a creative and effective engineer, problem-solver, and collaborator. He and Gretchen made lots of friends wherever they were, and both of them became avid hikers and runners, spending much of their time outside.

Elmer and Gretchen divorced when Elmer was 68 years old, and Elmer lived his later years in Washington State, first with his daughter Debbie and her husband Tom Dundas, and then in his own place in Desert Aire, along the Columbia River, where Elmer adored the quiet, sunny eastern Washington days. Elmer rode his Harley Davidson motorcycle all over the country until he was 84 years old. When he couldn’t do that anymore, he rode his bicycle. His son Darryl often stayed with him in Desert Aire, and they greatly enjoyed and helped one other. Because of Darryl, Elmer was able to finish the beautiful wooden kayak he had labored over for years.

Elmer was deeply proud of his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. His legacy of kindness and endless curiosity continue to inspire his family, who love and miss him terribly.

Elmer is survived by his children; by grandchildren Tyler Shore, Erin Dundas, Ryan Dundas, Brooke Vander Linden, Mike Shore, Brian Shore, and Andrea Shore; and by great-grandchildren Olivia Shore, Vera Cullman, Felix Cullman, Oscar Cullman, Bridger Vander Linden, Makenna Shore, Cooper Shore, Elizabeth Shore, and Allyson Rayburn.