Teddy Joe Shryock was born February 26, 1941, in Willow Springs, Mo., to Nan (Rothwell) Shryock and Ray Shryock. He passed away on February 25, 2024, in his Cedarhurst apartment in West Plains surrounded by his family.

Joe grew up in Willow Springs and graduated from Willow Springs High School in 1959.

The same year, he answered the call to ministry and enrolled in Ozark Christian College in Joplin, Mo.

As a student, he ministered to Christian churches at Nagle, Oak Hill and Summersville.

Joe married his high school sweetheart, Susan (Smith) Shryock, in 1961.

He was ordained by the Willow Springs First Christian Church in 1965. After several years as a youth minster, Joe earned his master of divinity degree in 1972 from Lincoln Christian Seminary in Lincoln, Ill.

He spent the next 30 years ministering to churches in Illinois, Indiana and Georgia. He then became a chaplain and served in the Georgia Department of Corrections for 17 years.

He continually broadened his education, earning a BS and an MA in sociology from Georgia Southern University and an MSW from Savannah State University.

After retiring, he worked as a hospice chaplain and social worker with the Pruitt Corporation in Atlanta, Ga.

Joe and Susan lived in Statesboro, Ga., for 33 years. They returned to Willow Springs in 2011, when Joe accepted a position as a licensed clinical social worker with Ozark Medical Center Behavior Health Care.

Joe also taught courses at Southwest Baptist University in Mountain View. He was a lifelong learner.

He loved hiking the Appalachian Trail with his sons, family trips, worshipping in a variety of churches and creating public art projects. With the help of prison inmates and church members, he designed large “stained glass” Christmas windows made of colored tissue paper, which were mounted annually in the Statesboro Regional Library.

Joe enjoyed writing letters, talking to strangers, reminiscing with his 1959 classmates and preparing sermons and lessons.

He and Susan sang together for shut-ins, in worship services and with the country gospel group, “The Circuit Riders.”

Joe introduced candle-lit Christmas Eve services to the congregations he served.

In his final years, when he suffered from Parkinson’s, Joe enjoyed Susan driving him on long trips to visit family and friends.

Joe was preceded in death by his brothers, George and Orval; and by his parents.

Joe is survived by his wife, ; and their five sons and their wives, Andrew (Sally) of Ann Arbor, Mich.; Aaron (Susan) of Orlando, Fla.; Matthew (Wanda) of Waynesboro, Ga.; Nathan (Victoria) of Atlanta, Ga.; and Benjamin (Danielle) of Brookfield, Wis.; and by his sister, Rhea Anne Mathews, Waynesville, Mo. Joe was blessed with eight grandchildren, Eleanor, Mac, Rebecca, Ruth, Jacob, Rachel, Joseph and Annabelle; as well as a host of nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.

A visitation for Joe will be held Saturday, March 2, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the First Christian Church in Willow Springs with the funeral service immediately following with Pastor Matthew Shryock officiating. The interment will be held at the Willow Springs City Cemetery.

Arrangements are under the direction of Willow Funeral Home, LLC.

Condolences may be left at www.willowspringsfuneralhome.com.

Statesboro Herald, February 29, 2024

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