Ida-Jo Shuman

Ida-Jo Shangraw Shuman died peacefully on October 6, 2024. Ida-Jo was born on August 18, 1931, in Syracuse, New York to John Edwin and Minnie Grace Shangraw. She graduated from Williamsport Area High School in 1949, and married Robert Lee (Bob) Shuman, her high school sweetheart and US military member, on base at Camp Atterbury in Indianapolis, Indiana. Following the private ceremony, Ida-Jo returned home to continue her career until Bob’s honorable discharge from his service, after which he returned to Williamsport to reunite with her and begin his successful corporate management career until his retirement.

While awaiting Bob’s return from the service, Ida-Jo resumed her employment at Bell Telephone Company as an operator, which she joined after her high school graduation. She remained with Bell Telephone throughout her entire 39-year career, moving into supervisory and management roles in operations and engineering until her retirement. 

Over the period starting with the birth in 1956 of their daughter Heather Lee, and the adoption of their two young sons, Jeffrey Wayne (Jeff) and Paul William in 1973, the couple set about teaching them the skills needed to build their own lives. Her children remember her as a kind, gentle, and loving mother, who encouraged them to pursue their goals. Ida-Jo loved reading, was accomplished in illustration and penmanship, and often applied these skills in her work in her engineering role at Bell Telephone. 

Ida-Jo was a dedicated mother who loved her children and all animals; she was passionate about exiting the country’s Depression and WW2 era to make a life with Bob, to whom she was married for 65 years until his passing in 2017. Ida-Jo then relocated to the home of her daughter and son-in-law in Kansas City, Missouri. She was an active member and Worthy Matron of the Felicitas Chapter 500 Order of the Eastern Star and was raised in the Methodist Church. 

She is preceded in death by her husband Bob; sisters Laura Grace Gehret of Duboistown, Pennsylvania and Yvonne Marie Miller of Denver, Colorado; and brother Joseph Almer Shangraw of Montoursville, Pennsylvania. 

She is survived by her daughter Heather and her husband Murray Meikenhous of Kansas City, Missouri; son Jeff and his wife Dorothea Kunz Shuman of Black Mountain, North Carolina; son Paul and his wife Maria Delores Shuman of Travelers Rest, South Carolina; five grandchildren Frances Grace and Marilynne Lee Meikenhous, Eric Matthew and Adam Christopher Shuman, and Joida Maria Shuman.

Visitation and Mass are scheduled for 10 AM on Thursday, October 10, 2024 at St. Therese Catholic Church, 7207 NW Highway 9, Kansas City, Missouri 64152, with a reception to follow there. All are welcome to attend and celebrate Ida-Jo's life. 

The family will have a private graveside burial at Montoursville Cemetery in Montoursville, Pennsylvania on Saturday, October 19, 2024. 

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Salvation Army in Ida-Jo’s name at https://give.salvationarmyusa.org one of Ida-Jo’s and Bob’s longstanding favorite charities. 

The family would like to thank the staff and management of McCrite Plaza at Briarcliff in Kansas City, Missouri, who cared for Ida-Jo in her final year.